


Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

by Thisbirdhasflown



Category: Master and Commander - All Media Types, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Age of Sail, Bagginshield slow build, Established Friendship, M/M, Master and Commander AU, and I'll probably add more relationships as well as we go along, ratings might go up later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-01-21 03:17:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 63,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1535594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisbirdhasflown/pseuds/Thisbirdhasflown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sailing for adventure with Thorin "Oakenshield" Durin, first Lieutenant Fili Durin and Dr Bilbo Baggins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As a very big fan of Patrick O’Brian’s ‘Master and Commander’ series, I’ve been wanting to do a Hobbit/Master and Commander AU for a while now. And after thinking about it for ages I started writing and well, here we are now. Because why not make two literary geniuses turn in their graves at once when you have the chance. 
> 
> There are a few things you should know before you read this. 
> 
> Since I am basing this on the ‘Master and Commander’ series, there are of course many differences to the Hobbit. The names of people and places I take mainly from the Hobbit, so the setting is still Middleearth, but it’s rather different from Tolkien’s. It is in fact like our own 19th century. The age of sail, as it has been called, is slowly coming to an end, and the sea is a battlefield for dominance over power and, probably increasingly more important, over trade routes. 
> 
> I am going to play around with a lot of things in this AU, for example the lifespan of hobbits and dwarves is approximately the same here. I think I will not be going into detail anywhere exactly how old people are, but just so you know. Bilbo’s and Thorin’s friendship just wouldn’t work the way I want it to if they had such a vast difference in age and life-expectancy. There will be more things like this, I’ll try to make note of them when they come up so you don’t get too confused by the deviations.  
> I’m basing Bilbo and Thorin loosely on Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, so their characters in this AU are influenced by that. Many characters have in fact counterparts in the Master and Commander-verse, but not all.
> 
> Most of the plot will happen on board of ships. This has already caused me a lot of gnashing of teeth, because I know practically nothing about sailing. My information comes from novels I’ve read, reference books to the O’Brian series and of course the internet. I am sure there will be mistakes and seasoned sailors will probably want to hit me with a rope and keelhaul me for them. Feel free to correct me on any mistakes you might come across, be they of nautical nature or concerning language, plot etc. and please ask me if you have any questions. 
> 
> Before we embark on this journey together I just have one last recommendation to make: Read the wonderful books by Patrick O’Brian, if you haven’t already, and watch the movie “Master and Commander” which is based on O’Brian’s works.  
> I’m very sure you won’t regret it. On a side note, the novels are a shippers (no pun intended) heaven, with all the bromances that are going on. All I’m saying is Aubrey/Maturin. Look it up. It’s such an awesome pairing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time on board of ships was and sometimes is today measured in watches and bells. I'm using the system below in my story and since not everybody is familiar with this, here is a table for you to check.
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
Glittering waves topped with white foam raced each other to the horizon. A gentle breeze was stirring them on, rippling the sea and pushing white clouds over a blue sky. Here and there the surface of the sea was further disturbed by fishes, jumping out of the water, flying for an impossibly long stretch over their natural element, sparkling like bejewelled birds and then diving down into the waves again, disappearing from sight.

There was no land in sight, no coastlines, no little islands, not even a sandbank or a reef, only water, stretching far and wide everywhere, giving the impression that the world consisted only of water and sky. But there was more. A tiny speck on the horizon steadily growing as the wind pushed it forward. And then there was the bow of a ship, cutting through the waves with the swishing sound of a sharp knife, leaving a trail of disturbed foam in its wake, swirling long after the ship had passed. The sails on the three masts billowed above the wooden surface of the deck like particularly clustered clouds over a small island. And like an island crawling with all kinds of animals, the dark planks were bustling with sailors, scrubbing the deck, tightening ropes and getting up into the rigging.

The young lieutenant leaning on the railing had no eyes for the wonders of nature displayed in front of him or the lively commotion around him. He might be staring at the watery vastness, but he didn’t see it, his ears might be hearing the calls and orders shouted behind him, but he wasn’t listening. He was deep in thought at the moment and would probably not have noticed if grilled capons had jumped from the water and played above the waves. Frowning at the horizon he wondered what this journey would bring for him. He had passed for lieutenant two years ago and had served under a moderately good captain since then. Four month ago another captain with whom he had served for years as midshipmen had required him in his service again and the young lieutenant had been more than happy to come. Not only did his younger brother serve on board of the same ship, not only was this captain one of the most famous captains in the entire fleet, envied for his luck and admired for his seamanly skills, but he was also the future king and the lieutenant’s uncle. 

The request to join his uncle’s crew had not been unexpected in its nature, but the timing had been a little surprising. The war was still raging and he had not been with his current command for very long. Since his uncle had not asked him to join his crew immediately after his passing up, as the best of his year, indeed the best candidate in the last 10 years, the lieutenant had thought he was supposed to learn more, become a better seaman and commander, before his uncle would ask for him. And as always he had dutifully gone to another ship and another captain and had learned. It had been a quiet command aboard a small ship patrolling one of the lesser important sea lanes close to the coast. A safe place for the great-grandson of the current king, the nephew of the future king. The lieutenant had been dissatisfied with this, but as always he had kept his silence and obeyed and learned his trade. He had just started to feel comfortable and content with his lot when the letter from his uncle had come. 

He could still remember the rush of excitement, the thrill of the knowledge that he would finally serve on a proper warship again, actually be fighting in the war and helping defend the kingdom of his family. His chance to distinguish himself and maybe heighten his chances of a captaincy one day. It was still too early for that, and he too young to be considered, but every bold action would count in his favour later. He had also been happy to see uncle and brother again and the ship he had spent much of his youth on as a midshipman. But now he was here and so far nothing had happened that made this cruise any different from the one he had left for this new assignment. True, they were sailing the deep sea, not a canal close to land. But apart from that nothing had happened. They had been sailing for two month now, meeting neither friend nor foe, cruising about in a most bizarre fashion, something his uncle would not explain and slowly but surely the young lieutenant was starting to get bored as well as irritable. Maybe this had all been a clever ruse? To get him even further away from any action? To keep him safe? He worried his bottom lip with his teeth and then sighed. This was futile. He was in for this now, wherever it was going to lead and there was nothing he could do about it.  
Even so he had to fight the feeling of frustration as he watched the endless stretch of dark blue water in front of him. 

“Lieutenant Durin?” he heard a voice from behind him and turned to see a sailor approaching him, touching his curled fingers shortly at his brow in greeting. “Yes?” 

“The captain would like a word with you in his cabin.” the sailor told him, standing at attention in the somewhat huddled way sailors do, with his feet spread apart and rocking slightly with the motions of the ship. 

“Thank you, Broadbeam.” Fili answered and with an inward sigh started to make his way over to his uncle’s cabin. ‘Please, oh please, don’t let this be about Kili again’, he thought. ‘If he asks me one more time to make my brother do something or make him not do something, I swear, I will scream!’

He passed the sailing master Balin Fundin on his way over the quarterdeck, nodded at a few sailors who went by saluting and then climbed down the stairs to the upperdeck. His uncle’s steward Oin Groinson was preparing dinner in the galley, grumbling to himself as always. This time it seemed to be about the state of his uncle’s shirts or something. Fili nodded in answer to the steward’s salute and went on to knock on the door of the great cabin. 

“Enter!” his uncle’s deep, strong voice called and Fili stepped inside, taking his hat off in a sweeping motion, tucked it under his arm and saluted. His uncle was seated at a small folding table, obviously in the midst of writing a letter. At the large table in the middle of the great cabin sat his uncle’s best friend and the ship’s surgeon Dr. Bilbo Baggins. He was probably the most unusual member of this crew, which was saying something since it also included the future king and both his nephews. But unlike the rest of the crew, Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit. And not only just a hobbit, but a studied one at that. On top of being a very skilled physician he was also a naturalist, played the cello, spoke more languages than Fili could name and was one of the best spies in the kingdom, a fact that was concealed from most of the crew. He looked up from the book that he was reading as Fili entered and greeted him with a smile and a nod before turning back to his reading.  
Fili’s uncle turned in his chair and smiled at him broadly. “Ah, Lieutenant Durin! Good, good.” he said, carelessly throwing down his pen on the letter he had been writing and splattering the page with drops of ink. 

“You wanted to see me, Captain.” Fili said and stood at attention, his hat under his arm and his face immobile. He might be the captain’s nephew, but that didn’t mean he was going to take liberties with him. Not that his uncle would have permitted that anyways. At least not when they were all on duty.

“Yes, indeed I did.” Thorin “Oakenshield” Durin said and got up from his chair. He was towering over Fili, indeed he towered over almost everybody on board of the ship. Tall for a dwarf, with broad shoulders and strong arms and legs, his long black hair, shot through with silver tied back in a loose ponytail and the beard of the same colour clipped short to his jaw, he was an imposing figure, even when you didn’t look to closely at his face. But if you did, you would see a strong boned face with piercing blue eyes, a long sharp nose and thin but mobile lips that currently wore a smile as his eyes rested on his eldest nephew. 

“We have been cruising for a while now and the crew seems to have gotten into a good rhythm I think. All working together quite nicely, don’t you think?” he looked at Fili questioningly and Fili nodded. Like himself a big part of the crew had been picked up two month ago when the HMS Orcrist had last seen land and although most of the dwarves now crowding the ship were seasoned sailors, it had taken them a while to form a team. 

“At any rate, I think it is time we give our gun crews a bit of practice.” Thorin said and now Fili’s nod was really approving. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Dr Baggins was exasperatedly rolling his eyes and Fili fought hard to suppress a grin. The doctor hated gun practice, he always had. Even after having spent so much time on board of ships, usually with Fili’s uncle, he had no patience with the necessary shooting practice. “Frankly speaking, it’s just loud and annoying and a waste of gunpowder.” he would say and then put waxy wool in his ears and try to read through the noise. 

Fili however was more than glad to have something to do against the terrible boredom that had started to set in and the enthusiasm that was sure to shine in his own eyes was reflected in his uncle’s. “Of course, captain.” Fili answered and smiled back at his uncle. 

“See to it that the gun crews assemble on the upperdeck and then get them started. I will look in on the training in a while.” Thorin continued and Fili saluted happily. Putting his hat back on and nodding shortly to Dr Baggins again, Fili turned to leave. His hand was on the door handle when his uncle cleared his throat. “Oh, and Fili...”

It took an almost super dwarven strength for Fili not to let his desperation and annoyance show as he turned back around to face his uncle. The use of his given name was a sure sign that his uncle had something else on his mind, something that had nothing to do with gun practice. And Fili was proven right because Thorin continued, “About your brother....”

It was with a slightly dampened mood that Fili emerged from the great cabin ten minutes later. He would have to have a stern word with his younger brother later, about topics ranging from personal hygiene to his lacking proficiency in arithmetic, but now he was going to get the gun crews together and start practicing. Something to do at last. 

Fili’s mood had not improved 2 hours later. On the contrary it had taken another toll downwards. Never in his whole life had he seen such sloppy reactions, such lousy teamwork and he was shouting himself hoarse trying to get the dwarves moving. It didn’t help that the midshipmen, especially his own younger brother Kili and his cousin Gimli, were thinking that all of this was just a great joke and were fooling around with the wadding and rolling around cannonballs in a corner, probably assuming that his sharp eyes didn’t see them. Something else to add to the list of topics he had to discuss with his lazy fool of a brother later. He refrained from pinching the bridge of his nose and just ordered the crews to load the cannons again. When Thorin came to check on the process a bit later the crews at least had started to work together with some sort of order, even though all was still going too slow. 

The look on his uncle’s face told him that the captain wasn’t pleased with this as well. He stood silently watching for a while and his mien grew sterner with every passing second. Fili was just glad that he hadn’t seen the chaotic fumbling at the beginning, this was bad enough. The landlubberly actions seemed to be too much for Thorin, because with a pointed look at Fili he retreated to the quarterdeck. The pained expression on his face was something that Fili took to heart as a sign of his own failure, even though he knew that his uncle had not meant it that way. For another hour he put the gun crews to the drill and when he finally let them all go to their usual tasks, he wasn’t anywhere near being satisfied with the progress. 

He watched wearily as Kili and Gimli scampered off to Mahal knew what mischief they had cooked up together again while he stayed with the dwarves that fastened the cannons. At least they were quick about turning the upperdeck to its usual state again. Fili’s ears were ringing from the load explosions, making his head hurt and he was hungry and tired. Still he remained till the last of the cannons had been fastened and the last keg of gunpowder had been stored again and only when all the sailors were finished with their jobs did he leave the upperdeck to go and search for his brother. 

He found him together with Gimli in the forecastle, hunkering down behind the foremast and sniggering at something that Fili was sure he didn’t want to know or be involved with in any case. Both of the young dwarves looked up at their first lieutenant with innocent expressions, a book of navigation open on Kili’s lap, surely as a decoy, Fili was certain of that. 

“Midshipmen Durin, Midshipmen Gloinson.” he said and both of them scrambled up to salute him. Kili’s salute was a tiny bit sloppy but Fili was going to let that slide for now. “I need to have a word with both of you today after supper. I’ll see you in my cabin.” He told the two youngsters and both answered with a crisp “Yes, Lieutenant.” and if Kili smirked a bit after saying it Fili chose to ignore that, too. There was only so much he could make Kili do in one day and treating his older brother with all the respect that his seniority and post on board of this ship demanded wasn’t one of them. “Good. I’ll be checking on your navigational calculations then as well. Captain Durin would like to have a report on your progress.” he told them and that at least caused the two to look a bit worried. Petty it might be, but it was satisfying to see the concern on both their faces and when Fili turned away he was sure that they would devote themselves to their mathematics at least for the next half hour. What with his life in the navy and a little brother like Kili, Lieutenant Fili had learned to count the small victories. 

He thought about taking a small nap even though it wasn’t two bells in the first dog watch yet, but on the way to his cabin he met the master’s mate Ori Burison and made the mistake of stopping to have a short chat with him. Fili knew exactly that there was no such thing as a short chat with Ori, who had a sweet and gentle personality, liked to read and make poems, but also loved to talk and would not realise the small hints Fili gave that he was actually not in the mood for a long conversation. 

Fili only got away from Ori when the last dog watch began and Ori had to hurry away to start his shift and then it was only an hour shy of suppertime, so Fili decided that taking a nap now would probably only make him even more tired when he had to get up to eat. There was still time to get a bit of sleep after supper and so the lieutenant started writing a letter to his mother. Who knew when he would be able to post it, but it was high time he started writing it. Two month at sea and not one line written, that would not do. Fili could imagine the face Lady Dis would make if she knew her eldest hadn’t bothered to write till now. 

He managed to write half a page before his mess assembled to eat. The mids were having supper with his mess today, which meant that it was a rather noisy affair. The presence of the first lieutenant may mean that the young dwarves tried to curb their spirits a bit, but since Kili and Gimli were among them it didn’t help much. By the time supper was over, the tension Fili had been feeling built up behind his right eye was turning into a dull throb, which would surely turn into a massive headache later.

‘Just get the talk over with and then you can sleep.’ Fili told himself and beckoned to Kili and Gimli to join him in his cabin. If he had to dress them down, he would rather do it in private. 

The two mids followed him meekly enough and Fili hoped this would go smoothly. He sat down on the only chair and crossed both his arms and his legs, giving the two young dwarves in front of him a stern look. 

“Midshipmen Durin, Midshipmen Gloinson.” he addressed them formally and the two tried to salute, which didn’t go well in the cramped space of Fili’s cabin. Not only was the cabin really small, but Kili and Gimli took up a lot of space. Kili was rather tall for a dwarf, almost as tall as their uncle Thorin by now and what Kili had on Gimli in height, the younger dwarf made up for in width. Not for the first time did Fili feel literally dwarfed by his brother and cousin. 

He might be smaller and lighter than both of them, but he was still the first lieutenant on this ship. After a short scuffle, Kili had almost knocked Gimli in the eye with his elbow and the younger dwarf tried to retort with a nudge to the side, the two managed to stand to attention and chorused “Yes, sir.” 

“I wanted to talk to you about your behaviour today.” Fili said and paused, giving them a meaningful look. It was an old trick of his mother’s from when he had been little. She would just vaguely hint that she had heard or seen some sort of misbehaviour and then wait for the culprit to spill everything, mostly revealing more wrongdoings than she had known about. It had always worked with Fili, who would tearfully confess even the smallest offence when the silence had lasted too long. So far it didn’t work on Kili and Gimli, their faces remained completely neutral and they chorused again “Yes, sir.” Maybe you had to have the same piercing stare that his mother had, Fili reflected. Maybe he needed to tighten the thumbscrews a bit. 

“You don’t happen to know what I am talking about?” he asked nonchalantly, bouncing his foot up and down.

“No, sir.” came the expected answer and Fili felt a thud of dull pain behind his eye. ‘To hell with tactics’, he thought. 

“Then let me refresh your memory. During gun practice, both of you didn’t pay attention to your assigned gun crews but played around in the back ground.” he said and was satisfied to see a flash of worry cross over Gimli’s face. Kili just looked innocently surprised. “What have you got to say to that?” Fili asked.

Of course it was Kili who spoke first “We were not playing around, sir. We were testing the dryness of the wadding.” he said.

“The dryness of the wadding.” Fili echoed and Kili and Gimli both nodded, although there was a tiny delay in Gimli’s reaction, as if he was copying Kili. 

“Yes, sir.” they said in unison.

“I might regret asking, but why did you do that?” Fili asked, knowing full well that Kili would probably come up with a plausible answer. 

“Mr. Fundin told us he saw a cannon explode once because the wadding had been wet and we wanted to make sure that didn’t happen, sir.” Kili said and Fili knew that he had lost. He could have let it go now, but some perverse and maybe masochistic streak in him made him inquire further. 

“And what was the rolling around of the cannonballs about?” he asked. 

“Checking for imbalances, sir.” Kili answered promptly and Gimli nodded along, looking quite relieved to have Kili deal with the situation.

“Imbalances.” Fili said and Kili nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, probably embellishing the imbalance story now with other colourful descriptions of exploding cannons and whatnot, but Fili stopped him with a gesture. 

“I think that is quite enough.” he said and Kili closed his mouth again. “Maybe you had reasons for your behaviour, but after making sure that the wadding was indeed dry,” Fili looked at them pointedly and Gimli fidgeted nervously, ”and after making sure that the cannonballs were quite balanced,” Fili gave his voice a sarcastic tone and now even Kili looked slightly uncomfortable, “you still didn’t pay attention to your gun crews. Practice is necessary, more than necessary as we have seen today and you need to be alert at all time during practice.” Kili started to open his mouth again but Filinsilenced him with a sharp look.

Both Kili and Gimli did look chagrined now and Fili sighed. “I won’t make this an official reprimand.” he told them and Gimli sagged visibly in relief. His father was part of the crew and even though Gloin Groinson was usually unbearably proud of his son, he would have his hide if he misbehaved. “But I will look at your further conduct and if this lack of discipline continues, there will be repercussions. Quite severe ones. Understood?” Fili looked from one young dwarf to the other and both nodded. 

“Yes, sir!” they said loudly and Fili almost winced. Gimli’s voice was really very loud, especially in close quarters and when you already had a headache.

“You are dismissed then.” he said, “A word, though, Kili.” he added to stop his brother before he could disappear and Fili just caught the pitying face Gimli made at Kili, before the dark haired dwarf turned back again and Gimli closed the door behind himself.

“Yes?” Kili said tentatively, hovering between standing at attention and slouching. 

“This is private now.” Fili said and Kili broke out in a grin, letting himself fall on Fili’s hammock, causing his brother to roll his eyes. 

“Uncle asked me to have a word with you.” the blond said and the grin quickly faded from his brother’s face. 

“About what?” he asked, looking already petulant. 

“Quite the range of subjects, really. Starting with your mathematic skills, or lack thereof, your inattention to personal hygiene and your neglect of writing to your mother.” Fili felt a bit guilty about adding the last one, but it was one of the captain’s duties to see to, that the mids wrote letters home. Kili wasn’t a child anymore and strictly speaking he could decide for himself whether he wanted to write to his mother or not, but Thorin tried his best to be in his sisters good books. A wise move in Fili’s opinion and obviously this included making Kili write home regularly. This had never been a problem when they both had been mids together, because being the fastidious elder he was, Fili had written letters for the both of them and let Kili sign them. Now however Kili had no one to take up the slack.

“Personal hygiene?” Kili said indignantly. 

“Yes, personal hygiene. Your trousers are dirty, that shirt is wrinkled like you slept in it, your hair is a disgrace and you are barefoot.” Fili listed Kili’s offence against his uncle’s sense of decorum. His brother looked down on himself, the look of outrage gone and replaced by a mulish expression. “It’s not that bad.” He protested halfheartedly and wriggled his dirty toes.  
“When have you last combed your hair?” Fili asked and Kili looked thoughtful “I don’t know, maybe last week?” he ventured. When he saw Fili’s frown he dropped his gaze to the floor. “And where are your boots? They were expensive enough, I hope you haven’t done anything with them.”  
Kili head snapped up again. “They are in my chest and in perfect condition. I just don’t like wearing them all the time. It’s easier to go up in the rigging with bare feet.”

“Kili, you are on board this ship to be trained as a future officer. You can’t run around like a common sailor.” Fili said with a sigh and got up to get his comb out of his chest. He pointed to the chair he had vacated and Kili slumped down there with a look of defeat. 

“Bilbo doesn’t wear shoes.” Kili said, but let Fili start combing through the rats nest of his hair without resistance. 

“Bilbo is a hobbit.” Fili answered, trying to untangle a huge knot without scalping his brother. He worked in silence for a while, only disturbed by Kili’s occasional wince. It didn’t take that long to comb through the hair and then Fili braided it with practiced hands.  
“You have to take more care with your appearance.” he said and punched his brother in the shoulder. “And now off with you and get those calculations ready that uncle wants to see.”

The look on Kili’s face as he heard this was one Fili knew perfectly well. “Spit it out, Kili.” He said wearily, as his brother fidgeted with his shirtsleeves that were really rather dirty.  
“I just don’t understand what I’m supposed to do!” he finally wailed.  
“Kili, that’s because you daydream instead of listen when uncle or Mr. Fundin explain it. You have to get this. Uncle might excuse a sloppy appearance, but if you fail to understand the most basic navigational calculations, he will get angry.”  
Thorin Durin was famed for his mathematical skills and understanding of navigation and he would get rather short with any dwarf in his command crew that had defects in that respect.  
“I try, I really do, but all these numbers make my head hurt. I just don’t understand it!” Kili said and looked really unhappy for the first time. 

“You used to be alright with mathematics before.” Fili said and packed away the comb again, looking critically at the back of Kili’s head. The braid looked neat now, but he was sure it would be back to messy hair in less than a day.  
“That’s because you explained it all to me again afterwards.” Kili said and he turned around, his face hopeful. “You couldn’t… I mean, would you mind terribly explaining stuff to me again? And Gimli perhaps? He can’t make either heads or tails of it as well.”

‘I shouldn’t, I really shouldn’t.’ Fili thought, but his brother had turned big, brown and trusting eyes on him now and he couldn’t refuse. Not when he looked like a lost puppy.

“Alright then.” he gave in and Kili beamed. “I’ll help you with it, tomorrow, six bells afternoon watch.” Fili said and made as to shoo Kili out now. He was tired, the throb behind his eye was getting worse and he only had four hours till his watch began. He needed to have at least a few hours rest. The younger dwarf stood his ground however, biting his lip and screwing up his face pitifully. “Actually… Uncle wants to see it tomorrow morning, so…. Couldn’t you….Now, maybe?” And he batted long lashes over big, brown eyes in an innocent plea.

‘It should be forbidden to look like this.’ Fili thought angrily an hour and a half later, glaring at the dark tuft of hair on his brother’s head, bowed over a page filled with calculations. ‘How does he do it? He’s a grown dwarf, almost a head taller than me but one look and he’s the little boy again, whose bloody knees I bandaged and all I can do is stop myself from picking him up and saying: ‘there there’.’

“Why haven’t you asked me for help before now?” he asked out loud, not even trying to hide his desperation.  
“We wanted to, but you are always so busy and we didn’t want to get on your nerves.” Gimli answered earnestly, looking up from his numbers. He wasn’t the real problem, actually. When Fili explained the calculations and formulas, Gimli understood almost everything immediately which only meant that he hadn’t listened when he had been told for the first time. Kili however really had hardly any idea what he was doing. It seemed that he had at least understood what he was doing now, so he might be safe the next day, but after that Fili knew he had to give his brother some coaching to catch up with everything. 

Fili pressed the heel of his hand against his eye, the pressure dulled the pain behind it for a moment but returned when he let his hand fall down again. Gimli and Kili both looked up when he sighed heavily. “You’ve got this now, right?” he asked and when the two nodded he got up from the bench he had been sitting on. “Right, I’m going to sleep now.”

Both Gimli and Kili smiled at him. “Thanks for your help, Fili.” Kili said. “Yeah, that’s really nice of you.” Gimli said, looking incredibly young with his grateful smile, despite his beard and bulk. Nodding distractedly Fili walked into his small cabin and collapsed on his hammock, not even bothering to change into his nightshirt. 

By rights he should have fallen asleep on the spot, but instead he lay awake in the stuffy darkness, listening to the familiar sounds of the ship. Water splashing against the hull, the beams creaking, the whispering of voices around him, the quiet fall of footsteps on the deck and every half hour without fail the bell, ringing more quiet at night but still audible in the relative silence. At some point he finally fell asleep and had to be roughly shaken awake by his uncle’s steward.

“Captain’s already on deck.” Oin said gruffly when he was sure that Fili was awake. “Watch starts in 5 minutes, you better hurry up.” And then he shuffled out of the cabin, mumbling under his breath. “Running around like a nanny after every Durin on this ship. Which is not my job, no it isn’t.”

If he hadn’t been so dreadfully tired, Fili would have smiled. Oin had been in his uncle’s service since before Fili had been born and he had served him during Thorin’s brief spells on land as well. Fili remembered the grey headed old steward bumping him on his knee as a dwarfling in his mother’s parlour, feeding him bread with butter and sugar along with stories of the sea.

With a groan he got up and splashed a bit of water in his face, silently thanking Oin for the foresight to bring him some. He tried to brush the wrinkles out of his shirt and gave it up as a lost fight. Hopefully his uncle wouldn’t notice the state of his shirt under his vest and jacket. Fili struggled with his boots for a few moments and then grabbed his sable and hat, rushing up the steep stairs to the upperdeck. He stepped onto the quarterdeck with the last ring of the bell and caught his uncle’s ice blue gaze under raised eyebrows. Giving a small apologetic smile Fili silently took his place behind his uncle and listened to the short handover report of sailing master Fundin. When he finished, Captain Durin relieved him with a nod and Fundin retreated, saluting crisply before he climbed down the stairs and disappeared from sight. 

Thorin turned around to Fili and gave him a stern look. “Did you talk to your brother?” he asked instead of reprimanding his first lieutenant for being late. “Yes, sir.” Fili answered and Thorin nodded with a look of relief. “I would hate to have to send him to another command. Your mother would be less than pleased.” Thorin made a face, which Fili understood perfectly. His mother was a formidable dwarrowdam and while she probably knew about the shortcomings of her sons, she expected them to overcome them and she expected Thorin to help them with that. “Let’s hope he listens to you. You always had a good influence on him. I’m glad to have you on board again. Not only because of Kili.” Thorin clapped a heavy hand on Fili’s shoulder, gave him a smile and then greeted Dr Baggins, who had climbed up to the quarterdeck to join their watch. He had a telescope with him, a book and papers crammed under his arm and looked at the two Durins excitedly. 

“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” he said with so much enthusiasm that Fili felt himself smile and nod, even though he still had a headache and was bone tired. Bilbo ambled over to Thorin and him standing on the port side of the capstan. 

“Are you up for a bit of star gazing tonight, my dear Doctor?” asked Thorin and Bilbo nodded. 

“I’ve never been at this latitude before and want to see how the sky looks here. Since the weather seems to be perfect tonight, I didn’t want to lose the opportunity. I am a bit tired, I have to say. I tried to get a bit of sleep earlier but with all that banging,” here he gave Fili and Thorin a pointed look, “it really wasn’t possible. But I’d rather lose a bit of sleep than miss this.” He ended with a sweep of his arm, taking in the admittedly beautiful night sky. 

Thorin chuckled deeply and asked to take a look at Bilbo’s book of stellar constellation. Fili took this as his hint to leave and joined Ori’s older brother Dori Burison by the wheel. The watch passed slowly and calmly. While his uncle was busy looking up stars with the doctor, Fili had command, which at this time of night and in calm weather only meant that he had to stand around and watch everybody do their job quietly.

Around four bells Oin came on deck with a large pot of coffee for Thorin and Bilbo, and Fili was also invited to a cup. Oin handed it to him, grumbling darkly about the stock of coffee running low, but he filled Fili’s cup to the brim and put three lumps of sugar on his saucer. Fili accepted the coffee gratefully, breathing in the strong scent and then sipped it slowly, letting the sugar lumps dissolve on his tongue one after the other. 

The caffeine and sugar helped him revive and the tightness behind his eye loosened a bit. By the time the watch was over Fili was wide awake. Nevertheless he went to his cabin, changed into his nightshirt and lay down in his hammock, but he was still awake an hour later and when he heard the bells ringing for three bells in the morning watch, he got up with a sigh again and called for Naínn, the steward he shared with the other officers, to bring him some hot water. He took his time washing and then re-braided his hair, even though it didn’t really need it, dressed in fresh clothes with care and then looked at himself in his small mirror.

Blue-grey eyes looked back at him, not as piercing in their intensity as his uncle’s or his mother’s eyes though Kili could probably tell of many occasions where Fili had fixed him with a stare almost as stern as them. His flaxen hair Fili had inherited from his good for nothing father, a flaw Fili had always felt keenly, especially when he was surrounded by his dark haired mother, brother, uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather but his facial structure and especially his nose were all Durin. Like his uncle, Fili wore his beard cropped close to his chin, but he allowed himself the extravagance of two short moustache braids. As an officer he was required to wear his hair and beard in an orderly fashion, without extreme braids or beads, but this he could get away with. What he couldn’t see in his little mirror were his broad shoulders and strong arms and legs, all well muscled from his years of service aboard ship and his sword training. He was a bit on the short side, even for a dwarf, but he was strong and fast and so far he still managed to best Kili and Gimli in a swordfight. 

Fili frowned at his reflection for a moment and then put the mirror away. Time to go on deck and see what the new day would bring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to skip between Fili's and Bilbo's pov for now, maybe changing that when the actions picks up later.
> 
> Stars in the text are markers for specific notes at the end.  
> Un-beta'd, so please tell me if you find any mistakes! 
> 
> Here's the timetable with the bell pattern again. :)
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
Bilbo Baggins was a very unusual hobbit in many ways. The fact that he had chosen to leave the Shire and roam about Middleearth was definitive proof of that. His interest in everything that lay beyond the borders of his homeland had shown very early in his life and first his parents had tried to quench the curiosity of their child with books. It soon became clear that reading would not suffice to satisfy Bilbo’s hunger for knowledge forever and so they had written to their family friend Gandalf Grey, to help them with their son’s education. With Gandalf Bilbo had gone to the cities of men and the kingdoms of the elves subsequently, to learn medicine, biology, botany and every language that the young hobbit happened upon. Gandalf had contacts and favours owed to him everywhere and so Bilbo even spent some time in the Iron Hills, meeting dwarves for the first time and soaking up every little morsel of knowledge that this secretive race cared to share. 

Hobbits were clever and in that respect Bilbo was probably not that uncommon. He looked quite ordinary for a hobbit too, with his honey coloured locks, blue-green eyes, fair skin and large feet covered in thick curly hair. At least that was what Bilbo thought. Others might have secretly thought that he was an exquisitely exotic creature, but they probably didn’t say it to his face and if they would have, Bilbo would have made an impatient noise at this nonsense. 

Even when he travelled all over Middle-earth, meeting men and elves and learning about their different races, he would never have imagined to serve on board of a ship one day. He became a surgeon and that made him quite happy for a while. And after attaining a bit of a reputation he had served as a private health counsellor for rich men in the prosperous cities of Gondor and Rohan, which meant that he could pursue his other interest in his ample free time. A bit of music, a bit of botany and if the mighty elf Lord Elrond wanted him to do a bit of spying, why, that was always a welcome distraction from the quiet life he usually led. After his parents’ early death Bilbo had inherited their small estate, but he had not returned to the Shire after he had buried them. It had been strange, walking through the empty house, expecting his mother to walk through the door, coming from the garden with dirty hands and a basket full of fruit and vegetable or waiting to hear his father call from the kitchen but only hearing the wood creak and only seeing the dust dancing in the silent air. So Bilbo had hidden the valuables from his greedy relatives and hired his neighbour Hamfast Gamgee to look after the property. Bag End in the small town of Hobbiton stood empty now, while its owner lived alone among strangers and in strange places, far away from the memories of a life that had seemed so much smaller and simpler. 

And then, only shortly after his parents had died, Bilbo had met Thorin “Oakenshield” Durin just as the dwarf had been offered his first command. Thorin had asked the hobbit to join him aboard his ship as his surgeon, and Bilbo, surprising himself, had taken on the offer. Unlikely as it was, the two had fast struck up a firm friendship and Bilbo had been in the service of the dwarvish kingdom of Erebor ever since. 

There were frequently times when Bilbo regretted this decision a tiny little bit, but today was not one of them. He had been a quite cross after the gun practice yesterday, something that he would never get used to, but then the star gazing at night had definitely made up for that. More than made up for it, really, because he had been able to share it with Thorin. Their interests didn’t overlap on many fields, music being one of the few where the dwarf and the hobbit could find a common ground, but the stars were interesting for the both of them, too. Of course, Thorin had quite a practical interest in star constellations, since he needed them for navigational purposes. Bilbo was just theoretically interested in their position and was simply delighted in looking at stars that featured, usually personified in some way, in the many myth and legends he had absorbed as a fauntling. 

So when Thorin looked at the constellations he could use them to find his place in the ocean, while when Bilbo looked at them he sought for his place in the cosmos of mythology. Nevertheless both of them had enjoyed the quiet watch and the sharing of their own brand of knowledge about the stars. 

After that Bilbo had gone to bed, or rather hammock, for another few hours, getting up to have breakfast with Thorin in the great cabin. Bilbo had been given permission to always come to the great cabin when it pleased him and also an invitation to always join Thorin for his meals, unless there was a definite reason not to, which rarely ever happened. 

The morning meal finished, Bilbo had sat down at the stern of the quarterdeck with a broad brimmed hat on his head and a book about seabirds written by his friend Lord Elrond in his hands and had enjoyed a lovely morning reading and not worrying about anything. Not even stupid bangs from the cannons disturbed him today, Yavanna may be blessed, and when his book couldn’t hold his attention any longer, Bilbo just looked out over the ruffled sea, relaxing his eyes and breathing in the clean smell of salty air. 

Bilbo enjoyed these moments of peace and he was right to do so, because they weren’t actually that common. True enough, he was called to sick bay about seven bells in the forenoon watch, because a sailor had fallen down the stairs, dislocating his shoulder and receiving a nasty cut on his head. Bilbo set the arm again, sewed the cut and bandaged the wound and then the sailors started to trickle into sickbay, one with an aching tooth, another with a wound that hadn’t been cared for properly and had started to suppurate and Bilbo looked after them all, treating them with the same care and professionalism that he had bestowed upon his rich patrons on land. 

As always when he was in sickbay, Bilbo lost track of time in the stale air and dim light of the crammed little space right in front of the foremast. He worked methodically and without haste and when Thorin checked on him it was already past six bells in the afternoon watch. 

“Dr. Baggins?” he asked and pushed his head around the long sheet that had been hung up to give the patients and doctor some sort of privacy. Bilbo looked up from another purulent wound, blinking at his friend in surprise and then smiled. “Why hello Captain Durin. Coming for a visit?” Bilbo knew full well that Thorin didn’t have the best bedside manner and liked to tease him about it. Weakness and any kind of affliction were not Thorin’s forte, not in himself and not in others. 

“No, you haven’t had dinner* yet, as far as I can tell and I was worried you would again forget to take it.” Thorin said, looking properly uncomfortable and Bilbo smiled to himself. The dwarf was always somewhat larger than life, future king and the absolute ruler of the HMS Orcrist, but here in the sickroom, where quietude and small gestures were appropriate, he looked out of place. 

“Thank you for your concern. I’ll come as soon as I’m ready here. I think there’s only one more patient.” Bilbo said and Thorin quickly withdrew, nodding at the saluting sailors.

Bilbo finished his work, left a few instructions for his assistant Bildr and washed thoroughly, rubbing his hands with a little bit of clear alcohol at the end. Then he left the lower deck and with flapping feet crossed the length of the upper deck to the great cabin. Thorin smiled up at him as he entered and left his writing desk to sit with him at the table, which was still fully laid out. 

“Oin!” Thorin called, making Bilbo wince slightly and moments later the steward entered. “Aye, captain?”

“Oin, the doctor is here, you can serve dinner now.” he ordered and Oin nodded, grumbling to himself as he went. 

“Thorin, have you waited with your dinner for me? You shouldn’t have, really.” Bilbo said but Thorin just shrugged. “I was busy with my calculations and forgot dinner myself. Oin reminded me and then I went to get you.”

“Well I thank you very much for that.” Bilbo said and sat down. Now that his hands and brain were no longer occupied, he noticed how hungry he was and so Bilbo tucked in with good appetite when Oin had served their meal. Thorin looked at Bilbo in amusement as he began to eat voraciously. The fare aboard a ship could be described as monotonous at best, at least it got monotonous very fast, when the fresh products that had been stored were used up and there had been no opportunity to replenish them. After two month at sea they didn’t have many fresh vegetables left, but at least the ship biscuit was still dry and free of weevils, the salted meat was still good and the hard cheese not so hard that you couldn’t eat it. Since Oin usually used the cheese from Thorin’s own store to make grilled cheese for him and Bilbo, it didn’t really matter if it got a little hard. And, as Thorin liked to say to Bilbo in private and always succeeding to make the hobbit snicker at the bad and often heard joke “Old cheese isn’t hard, No cheese, that is hard.”

At any rate, they could always catch fish, indeed today’s dinner was freshly caught fish, which explained the enthusiasm Bilbo showed for his food. 

“You must be starved!” Thorin commented and Bilbo looked up to see that his friend and captain had only just started to debone his fish, while the hobbit himself had already eaten half of his. 

“Oh!” he said, blushing slightly. “I am so sorry, I forgot my manners for a second. Forgive me.” And he proceeded to eat much slower, chewing each bite and savouring the taste of the fresh and juicy white meat.

“Not at all, dear friend.” Thorin answered, still smiling. “It’s good to see you eat with an appetite.” Bilbo felt his ears redden a bit, Thorin always teased him about food, but what could he do? He was a hobbit and hobbits loved food and Thorin was his best friend which gave him the privilege to tease him about pretty much everything he liked. And usually Bilbo gave back as good as he got. Just now he was far to hungry to think up a good retort.

Trying to distract Thorin from his appetite, Bilbo asked about the calculations that had held up the captain’s own dinner. It did work, though the dwarf’s face darkened a tiny little bit. 

“It’s absolute tedious.” he told Bilbo, pushing a fishbone to the side of his plate with his knife. “Last time the ship was sighted was somewhere around where we are now, but that was 4 month ago. I tried to calculate where they could have gone from here, taking the currents into the equation, but it’s too many variables to pin it down. The result is such a wide stretch of sea, we could be sailing for month in the wrong direction. If we do come upon them, it will be by chance.”

Bilbo nodded along. Unlike the rest of the crew he knew the details of their orders and why they had been cruising, seemingly without aim, for the last two month. During the last two or three years, Erebor had lost more ships to the enemy than ever before. At first it had seemed like a coincidence. That was the way the war went after all, sometimes you lost, sometimes you won. But then the reports had indicated that the ships had all been captured or destroyed by the same ship. A ship that was faster than any of their ships, with deadly accurate gun crews and an incredibly destructive power. And while the mysterious ship wreaked havoc among the fleet of Erebor, nothing seemed to be able to penetrate it’s thick, black painted hull. It flew no colours but it was almost certain, that it was an orc ship. None of the other dwarf kingdoms would dare attack Erebor and while there was no love lost between dwarves and elves and they were officially still at war, there had been a kind of armed truce for long years now. Bilbo’s spying also had confirmed that the mysterious ship was no elf ship, at least it wasn’t listed in any of the official and unofficial lists. He had even asked Lord Elrond, who had been a friend of his for many years and the elf had confirmed, under a seal of confidence he knew Bilbo wasn’t going to keep, that the ship didn’t belong to Rivendell. He had even hinted at their fleet also being attacked by it. He could of course not vouch for Lothlorien and even less for Mirkwood, but it seemed unlikely that they other two large elvish kingdoms would attack in this manner. 

With the various small kingdoms of men the dwarves of Erebor also had a somewhat strained relationship, but they were officially at peace with all of them and it wasn’t even seriously considered that they were behind the attacks. 

All in all it wasn’t so very mysterious after all, the ship belonged neither to elves, men or dwarves, which left only the orc and goblin kingdoms. As far as Thorin was concerned all of them were equally bad and he just wanted to catch the ship. Bilbo however wondered to which of the many small kingdoms it belonged. The goblins of the Misty Mountains had been very troublesome so far, but they only had a handful of ships and usually kept their war to the land, which was bad enough.

As bad as the goblin kingdom was, the orcs were much worse. When they went on a raid, they took what valuables they could carry and made off with it, leaving only corpses and burned earth behind. They didn’t want to conquer, they just wanted to destroy. But while they always were a threat, nothing except a few little skirmishes at the boarders had happened over the last months. On sea it had been suspiciously calm as well, only a few far off sails had been spotted and one Gundabad ship had been sunk near the coast of Erebor. They had been very quiet for a while and Bilbo heavily suspected them to be behind the mysterious ship, although he had no proof. His informant in the Misty Mountains had not been in contact for a year now and Bilbo was almost certain that something bad must have happened to him. This annoyed him greatly, not so much for the poor goblins sake, who was a nice enough fellow but had been paid off richly for his service, but it meant he probably had to look for another liaison as soon as possible. With men it was almost too easy to find somebody to sell information, the elves were easy to deal with too, once you had gotten their trust. Bilbo didn’t bother with the dwarves, neither money nor charm worked against their almost paranoid secrecy. But orc and goblin contacts were hard to come by. 

First of all you hardly ever met one of them outside their own territory and if you did he was almost certainly part of a large pack, intent on wreaking war and havoc. Bilbo very much strove to avoid that. He didn’t actually like conflict of any kind very much and abhorred violence. Given his position as surgeon on a dwarf-of-war, that was a bit ironic and the irony was not lost on Bilbo.

In any case, one seldom met an orc or goblin on his own and even if you did, communication wasn’t easy. Bilbo had learned a bit of the language from prisoners, but even that wasn’t much help. So they had no real prove who was behind the attacks, but that didn’t mean they were not going to try and catch their attacker. 

As Bilbo thought about orcs and goblins and listened to Thorin ramble on about wind and currents in relation to latitude and time of year with only half an ear, his appetite dwindled and by the time Thorin had finished his own dinner, Bilbo was pushing the rest of his fish and ship biscuit around on the plate. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice that the dwarf had stopped talking. 

“Am I boring you?” Thorin asked and Bilbo lifted his head from where it had rested on his hand, blinking in surprise. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, dear friend.” he said, trying to gather himself again and feign a look of interest, but Thorin didn’t look offended. Instead he laughed. 

“Never mind, never mind, I know that navigation is not among the vast number of your intellectual pursuits. Forgive me for prattling on about it again.” he offered his apologies. “But I do hope you will eat up? Or was the fish not to your liking?”

Bilbo looked down on his plate and the half eaten fish and then up again into the face of his friend, who looked at him with much fondness but also a bit of worry, betrayed by the lines on his forehead. This was one thing that Bilbo liked quite a lot about Thorin, he was easy to read. He was a dwarf of strong emotions and he did not always hide them well. Whether he was angry or happy, it would usually show very clearly on his face and in his demeanour, something that Bilbo found incredibly relaxing. As a spy he was used to hiding his own feelings and purposes and he was used to dealing with people who under all circumstances hid theirs and it was just wonderful to spend time with somebody who did not do this.

The hobbit smiled back at his friend, pushing a bit of white meat on his fork with the dry biscuit. “No, it’s fine. I was just a bit lost in thought. This business with the mystery ship is most vexing.”

Thorin’s frowned, concern morphing into angry determination on his brow. “I am bent on catching this ship and then this mystery will be solved.” he declared and Bilbo nodded. He had no doubt that Thorin would indeed catch the ship eventually. When Thorin made up his mind about something, then he was going to pursue his object till he reached his goal. Depending on who you asked, people called this quality of him either tenacity or pig-headedness. Nevertheless, Bilbo couldn’t help but worry and think about the strange ship.

As the hobbit cleared his plate, Thorin turned the conversation to a topic that was much more interesting to Bilbo. 

“You’ll be glad to know that we will be passing along the Ízunmurkh Azahyiüzidîn** on our current course.” the dwarf said and got up to get a sea chart, carelessly pushing away his plate to make space on the table. Bilbo did really perk up on that. The Ízunmurkh Azahyiüzidîn or Shell Islands as they were called in the common tounge, had been discovered long ago, but since they were so far away from any of the kingdoms they had long remained unclaimed and had only occasionally been visited by navy ships, letting them become harbour and shelter for pirates, deserters and the odd unlucky shipwreck. Reports had been telling of sparse vegetation but also of rather unusual beasts and birds and with time the islands had become the secret or not so secret dream destination of many a naturalist. Being famous for his interest in botany and zoology, Bilbo was of course one of the many scientists that had long wanted to visit the place and maybe discover a few new species.

Quickly Bilbo swallowed the rest of his fish and got up to stand next to Thorin, examining the chart on the table with keen interest. After years and years of service on board of a ship he still wasn’t good at reading the military charts, but he would have recognized the shape of those dream islands literally in his dreams. 

“You say passing,” he said cautiously “but do you mean only passing or will there be time to actually land and explore?” Bilbo asked his friend. He had been able to go exploring on other commissions but only when time and circumstances allowed, the requirements of the service always went first. 

Thorin smiled at him. “We will be staying close to the islands for a while, searching along the coast for the ship. So there will be time for you to go on land and explore. After all, we do have orders from his majesty to explore when we can.”

Bilbo traced the shape of the islands on the map with his finger, praying silently that nothing would happen to deter them from their current course. Thorin next to him remained silent, also staring at the map, probably not thinking about flora and fauna of this magical place but rather assessing the strategic value of the islands, their military use and how best to approach without letting a possibly hidden enemy know of their arrival. 

They were shaken out of their quiet musings by Oin coming grumbling into the cabin, asking if he could clear the table now. The steward gazed at the maps on the white table cloth with suspicion and Bilbo had to hide his smile. Thorin didn’t care much about domestic linen and had produced ink stains on more than one valuable damask table cloth because he just wrote his letters wherever he found a free place, spattering ink from his pen or bowling over the inkwell altogether. Oin was a tough old seadog who had had his fair share of misery and hardship in life, but that was the one time Bilbo thought he had seen the steward close to tears.

Lifting the maps so that Oin could take the plates and tablecloth away, Bilbo nudged Thorin gently to the side to give the steward some place to work. “Oh, sorry Oin old fruit.”Thorin said as he caught the look of concern with which Oin eyed the tablecloth, obviously checking for ink spots. “Won’t happen again.” And the captain smiled ruefully at his steward, who just lifted his upper lip in a silent sneer and then hobbled from the cabin, muttering under his breath about inappropriate behaviour and the things Lady Dis would do, if she saw the costly linen treated this way.

Thorin followed Oin fondly with his gaze but when Bilbo put the map back on the now clear surface of the table again, the dwarf looked gravely at the parchment, all gentleness gone from his face.

“I think we’ll land here first.” he said, and put a digit to the map to show Bilbo the cove on the main island he planned to use as harbour. “And then we’ll search the other two large islands.” Bilbo examined the map and wrinkled his brow. “But that could take very long. We’ll have to sail all around the smaller archipelagos.” He looked up at Thorin from the side who weighed his head.

“Not necessarily.” Thorin finally answered, sitting down and pulling a piece of parchment and a pen to him. “We could sail right through the little straits between the islands. It is safer to sail round, but faster to sail right through and I think Balin is well equipped to handle this. It all depends on the weather really.” he said and started scribbling calculations on his piece of paper.

Bilbo wasn’t totally convinced. The straits between the scattered little islands were narrow and full of hidden reefs and shallow sandbanks. Even an experienced sailing master like Balin Fundin needed perfect conditions to sail a ship safely across those islands. Bilbo had never been shipwrecked and he didn’t want to start this now, not even on those interesting islands. Especially not when they were hunting an enemy ship that had brought so much destruction on their fleet. He watched Thorin calculating for a while. The dwarf was concentrating hard, once in a while chewing on the pen with his strong white teeth and tapping his nose with a finger, oblivious that he was doing so but making Bilbo smile again. As long as he knew Thorin he had chewed on pens when he was calculating. And tapped his nose. The chewing and tapping both were signs of deep concentration and Thorin only displayed them when he was in safe surroundings.

Sometimes Bilbo felt guilty for keeping record of all his friends little tics and quirks, especially when it concerned friends that he felt very deeply about, but his years as a spy had taught him to always be on his guard and he almost automatically watched people and the little habits that betrayed their emotions. He wasn’t going to use any of his information against Thorin, Bilbo appeased himself. Not that it would be of much use to Thorin’s enemies anyways to know that the dwarf chewed on his lip in concentration when he played a particularly tricky part on his violin. Or that his face always softened for a second when he looked at Kili, even when the youngster had done something stupid again. Or the way his chest broadened with pride at the sight of Fili. Or that his eyes would crinkle so handsomely when he found something amusing. And the way he would sometimes look at Bilbo with so much trust and appreciation…

‘Stop this!’, Bilbo silently rebuked himself and gave one last look at Thorin, who was tapping his nose with the pen now, looking blankly across the cabin, his lips moving silently.

‘It doesn’t do you any good to dwell too much on the fact that you have more than just friendly feelings for your best friend.’ the hobbit told himself and turned from the table to look for the book he had last been reading. ‘You can count yourself lucky that a dwarf like him regards you as a friend, as his best friend moreover. It is folly to want more than that.’

But while Bilbo could hide his feelings very well, he had not succeeded in making them go away. He hadn’t been instantly in love with Thorin when they first met, far from it. But as they had gotten to know each other he had first started to value him as a clever seaman, a good commander and more and more as a friend. Bilbo couldn’t quite remember when his friendly feelings had turned into something more. Love had creeped up on him somehow and when he finally acknowledged it to himself, it had been altogether too late to do anything about it. He didn’t want to sever the friendship he valued above all others, not when he felt like part of a family again for the first time since his parents had died. Stamping own on his longing and trying to dismiss it as simple lust had also not worked. While he did find the dwarf arousing in a purely physical sense, Bilbo knew there was more to his feelings than just bodily reactions to an attractive person. He loved Thorin, loved all of him: body, mind, heart and soul. He wouldn’t act on it, would never even tell Thorin, but he had come to terms with the fact that his feelings were there and not likely to go away.

This was uncomfortable for him at times. Thorin was a dwarf of deep emotions and while he usually governed himself and his temper very well in his role as captain and hardly ever had to raise his voice except to shout over the noise of the sea, with his family and friends Thorin often displayed his emotions, positive or negative. Bilbo had seen him rage over a slight given to Erebor by one of the elvish kingdoms, breaking a complete dinner set when he upended a table in his anger.

But with the occasional outburst of anger the hobbit could deal with easily. He either ignored the shouting or, when he deemed it appropriate, gave Thorin a piece of his mind. What was difficult to handle was the affection Thorin also liked to display. He couldn’t be overly friendly with his nephews since it would look too much like favouritism and that could disrupt the discipline on board severly. As a hobbit, the ships surgeon and a privateer, Bilbo was the only one on board who had a somewhat special role and stood slightly apart from the ships hierarchy. Though he had to obey Thorin’s commands, he was more of an equal to him and the only person Thorin could openly be affectionate with while they were at sea. And so Bilbo had to endure the friendly pats on the back, the occasional arm thrown over his shoulder and the intimate contact that being the captain’s confidante brought with it. He wouldn’t really have given all that away since he had always liked the attention Thorin had given him, since way back when he still had seen him only as a friend.

Because Bilbo liked being asked his opinion about matters, he liked having someone to share his own thoughts and interests with. He liked having a friend. So there was nothing for it but grit his teeth and not show how much he actually liked the one armed hugs Thorin always gave him, not let the love shine to brightly in his eyes when he looked at his friend. All in all it wasn’t too bad. Some days it hurt to shut away his feelings, but most days he was fine and enjoyed what he had. And that was quite a lot, Bilbo had to say so himself.

Bilbo finally found the book he had been searching for in one of the cupboards, Oin had probably tidied up the cabin and put it away, and sat down at the table, leaning back in his chair and started to read. Thorin was still calculating, one piece of paper full of numbers and graphs by now and he had already started on the second one.

The hobbit lost himself in his book and was startled out of his reading an hour later, when Thorin threw down his pen with a grunt and got up from his chair to stretch his back.

“Well, I think I have planned a route across the islands now as well as around. We’ll have to adjust it, depending on the weather, but that will be a matter of a few minutes and we can do that on the spot.” Thorin looked well satisfied at the small stack of paper on the desk and folded his arms behind his back, stretching his shoulders. Bilbo tried to ignore the way Thorin’s muscles moved under the semi-transparency of his white shirt and concentrated on the dwarf’s face instead.  
“I’m glad you planned a route around as well. As much as I trust Mr Fundin, I don’t like the look of those straits.” Bilbo said, putting his finger between the pages so he would be able to find his place again later.

Thorin nodded, looking down at the map once more. “I think that Balin could find his way through those blindfolded and just by smell, but it’s better to plan ahead. We can’t know what conditions we find there and if the wind is in our favour. Might be we need to sail fast, if we find our mystery ship for example.” He let his eyes sweep over the map one more time and then started clearing the table of paper, putting his calculations neatly away in a small wooden chest and rolling the map up to store it away.

“Will you be joining me for supper tonight?” Thorin asked, as he locked up the cupboard that held the charts.

“Thank you, yes. I’d be delighted. Maybe we could play music afterwards? It’s been a while since we had the chance for a little session.” Bilbo said and was rewarded by a bright smile from Thorin.

“Splendid idea, my dear doctor.” the dwarf said and started rooting around the cabin for his uniform jacket. After several minutes of futile search he shouted for Oin. The steward shuffled into the room and saluted sluggishly. “Yes, captain?”

Thorin ignored the sloppy greeting and stood with his hands on his hips, looking around the cabin. “Oin, my jacket is gone.” he said, his brow knitted in irritation.

“’tis not gone. Hung up, is what it is.” Oin said and opened the wardrobe to take out the jacket.

Thorin’s face brightened again and he took the jacket from his steward. “Ah, didn’t think to look there. Thank you, Oin. You may go. Oh, and the doctor will take supper with me tonight so prepare enough for two. Maybe grilled cheese? And we’ll be playing some music later, so please see to that we have enough light.”

“Yes captain.” came Oin’s reply and then he left the cabin again, mumbling. “Letting his uniform lie around like some rag, getting mouldy and wrinkly. Not a care in the world that I have to slave for a day to get it straightened out. Which is a bloody nuisance it is.”

Oin’s mumbling was lost when he closed the door again and Bilbo shot Thorin an amused look which Thorin answered with a grin. He shrugged into his jacket, fastening the buttons and then expertly straightened his hair. “I’ll be doing a round of the ship now. Care to join me, doctor?”

Bilbo decided that he should get on with his reading; this book was the latest work by a fellow naturalist and friend, Radagast Brown whom Bilbo had met through Gandalf, and he had been wanting to write him a review for ages now. So he shook his head and opened the book again. “No, thank you. I’ll be reading a bit more. Making use of the absence of loud bangs.” He gave Thorin a pointed look from under raised eyebrows, but the dwarf only laughed.

“How you still are not used to gun practice is a mystery to me, Bilbo.” he said and then took his hat and left the cabin, chuckling as he went.

Having the cabin all to himself, Bilbo spread some papers on the table and started taking notes for his review. Radagast was very capable naturalist and in a strange way a friend of Bilbo’s, but he was also a tiny bit crazy. That however was the reason why he was such a capacity in his field. Bilbo knew that Radagast had lived in the wilderness for years, which meant that his social skills among civilized company were somewhat questionable but his observations of wild life and the change of flora and fauna through the seasons were praised by everybody working in the field and his reputation was unchallenged among his colleagues. 

Bilbo finished taking notes on the book two hours later and sat up straight to stretch his back. He looked out of the large stern window and saw that the sun had started to set, painting the sky pink and orange and also seemingly setting the waves on fire, their little crowns of white foam looking like torches of light now. Quickly Bilbo stowed away the book in the cupboard Thorin had given him for his private use in the great cabin and then rushed up to deck to look at the natural spectacle. He’d seen plenty of sunsets of course and, incidentally, more sunrises than he cared for, but it still held a fascination for him. When Bilbo had been a little boy, his mother would sit with him and his father on top of their smial in the summer, watching the sky turn from pink to purple and then deep, velvety blue till the stars came out and though he was now at sea and his parents long dead, Bilbo still liked to watch the sun go down and remember his parents. And it was really a spectacular sunset this evening. 

As Bilbo arrived on deck, he found Thorin standing with his hands behind his back and observing the colourful sky. Many of the sailors were pausing in their work, too and even Fili, who had been the epitome of seadwarfly correctness ever since he had joined the Orcrist’s crew as first lieutenant again, was standing slightly less stiffly next to his uncle as he usually did and also looked out at the setting sun. For two people who looked as unlike as Thorin and his smaller, lighter and fairer nephew it was pretty astounding how much they sometimes resembled each other in stance and expression. Bilbo looked around and saw Ori, master’s mate and Orcrist’s very own poet, leaning at the railing, his chin propped up in his hand and a dreamy look on his face

Not wanting to disturb the little family picture of the two Durins’, Bilbo walked over to Ori, and leaned against the railing next to the dwarf. Ori gave him a friendly smile and sighed. “Isn’t it glorious?” he asked and made a sweeping motion with his hand. “Nature painting on her own beautiful canvas, with so much more expression of mastery than dwarves ever can produce. Would that I could catch a glimpse of that in my poetry. But alas, I’m only a mortal, I can never dream to reach such perfection.” The contend smile on the young dwarves face had slowly faded to a wistful look and Bilbo took it in hand to make him smile again. He saw the psychological health and wellbeing of the crew as part of his job too. “But you can strive.” Bilbo told Ori. “You can aspire. And isn’t that what every artist does in the end?” he said and the young dwarf’s face lit up again. 

“Beautifully put, Doctor Baggins.” He said and then he was lost for every other conversation because he started thinking up rhymes for ‘pink’ and ‘orange’, mumbling under his breath and drinking in the sight of the setting sun. Bilbo just propped his chin up on his hand as well, smiling at the memory of his parents and enjoying the quietude of the evening. The air was calm, there was for once no shouting and running on deck going on and everybody who didn’t have a job to do spared a moment to look at the sunset.

Bilbo was so lost in thought that he almost squeaked when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. For a dwarf of his stature Thorin could move with surprising quietude and he always did this, sneaking up on Bilbo and giving him a scare. It wasn’t even that the dwarf did this in purpose, he just happened to be often choosing moments to walk up behind Bilbo, when the hobbit wasn’t paying attention to all of his surroundings. This would never happen to Bilbo when he was on a spying mission, he was always alert then, always suspicious, but aboard a ship and among friends he let his guard down. 

Of course Thorin had noticed him flinch and looked at Bilbo with mild concern when he turned around. “I’m sorry Doctor, have I startled you?” he asked, his hand still resting on Bilbo’s shoulder. 

Bilbo smiled, at least he could always manage a convincing smile when he had to and pretended not to have been surprised. “Not at all, not at all. Just a small spasm. I have been standing bend over for too long today.” He made a show of rolling his shoulders and his joints made a satisfying popping noise. 

“Oh, I hope you are up to some music then? I was going to ask you down to the cabin now, I think Oin has started preparing supper.” Thorin said, looking quite happy at the prospect of grilled cheese and some music. 

“Sure, that will probably loosen me up again.” Bilbo said and followed Thorin, who had started his way down the stairs to the upperdeck. 

When they entered the cabin again, there was only the slightest glint of the sun still to be seen above the horizon and the lights in the cabin had already been lit. Thorin took of his hat and coat, throwing both carelessly on the long bench under the stern window. It had occurred to Bilbo before that this sloppy behaviour somehow clashed with the sense of decorum and order Thorin usually displayed, especially since he did put a lot of importance on his appearance. But there were many things about the dwarf Bilbo hadn’t figured out yet and he still couldn’t help but trust him. Bilbo shrugged out of his own coat and hung it up over the back of a chair.

They set about to put up their music stands and then got their instruments out of the cupboards. Bilbo plucked the strings of his cello and shook his head, dreadfully out of tune of course. The humid air and the constant movement of the ship were not particularly healthy for a wooden instrument. It was not a very valuable instrument he had taken to sea, that would be folly. He had already lost several cellos to humidity and of course in battle, but this particular instrument had been with Bilbo for quite a while now and it had become dear to him. Of course he knew that attaching himself to a mere thing was silly, but nevertheless, he liked this one more than he had liked other instruments before. The fact that it had been a gift from Thorin had nothing to do with that at all. 

Since Thorin had perfect pitch and could tune his violin without being given a standard pitch, Bilbo waited for him to tune his instrument first. This always took a while, since Thorin was a perfectionist in many things and tuning his violin was one of them. Since his instrument was also beset by the humid climate of the ship, it sometimes proved a right struggle to adjust the substandard instrument to his superior hearing. 

Bilbo idly leafed through the notes Thorin had brought on this journey. They had been playing a lovely duet lately, but he was in the mood for something new today. He found a sheet that looked promising, not too difficult, so they would be able to sight-read it without much problem. Thorin was tuning the E string now, his eyes were closed and his brow knitted in concentration and Bilbo couldn’t help but smile at the familiar sight of Thorin bend over his instrument, turning his head to be closer to the f-holes. Today he was quickly satisfied with the pitch of his violin and let his fingers run over the strings in a short etude, then huffed in satisfaction. He looked up at Bilbo and when he received a nod, gave him an A to tune from. The hobbit closed his eyes and bowed his head down, turning the pegs gently and drawing his bow across the strings till he as well was pleased with the tuning of his instrument. 

When he looked up again he found Thorin looking back at him with a rather fixed smile. “Is something the matter?” Bilbo asked, knowing full well what was going to come. Hardly ever did they play together that Thorin didn’t ask him to fine tune one string again and sure enough… “Ahem, well, that D string, maybe you could tune it just a smidgen higher?” Thorin suggested and Bilbo complied, looking at Thorin this time to see when the dwarf would nod to tell him it was alright. Bilbo couldn’t really tell a difference but he knew it was grating for Thorin’s ears. How he could then endure playing on mediocre instruments and with a rather mediocre cello player like himself was a bit of a mystery to Bilbo but he wasn’t going to complain. 

“So what have you picked out?” Thorin asked, leaning over to look at the notes and then smiled. “Ah yes, lovely. I’ve been looking forward to playing this. Heard it in a concert last time I was on land. Bloody elf played the violin and I have to say she rather butchered it.”  
Bilbo just raised his eyebrows a little, the elf had probably had a few hundred years of practice, if not more and had in all likelihood played her part beautifully, but Thorin would never admit that. 

They divided the notes, Thorin reading them once over and then they settled in their usual spots. When Thorin was ready he raised his violin and then cued Bilbo. They went through the first movement of the sonata, playing it a bit more slowly than it was meant to be played but this way got through without mistakes. Emboldened by that Thorin picked up speed in the second movement and Bilbo followed. He managed to get through but this time some wrong notes had stolen into his play. Luckily the third movement was a slow one, but the cello part had some tricky spots. Bilbo scraped through nevertheless and then they were rewarded by a perfect fourth movement, both of them in sync and finally lost in the music. 

The violin was closing the sonata and Bilbo had time to look up from his cello to look at Thorin play the last few notes. Thorin ended with his bow high in the air, his eyes closed and a sweet smile on his face and Bilbo quickly cast his eyes down. It somehow felt wrong to intrude upon this kind of serene happiness. “Perfect!” Thorin exclaimed, and Bilbo looked up again, to see him lowering his instrument with a broad grin.

“Well, you were. I scampered through as best as I could.” Bilbo said, and frowned at the page, playing a few notes from a spot where he had played out of tune.  
“I had the fortune to have heard this sonata before.” Thorin said, tucking the violin under his arm and looking at his own notes fondly. “It is a lovely piece, don’t you think?”

“Oh yes. But I will have to practice some of it, before we play it again.” Bilbo said. “Not one wrong note from you and I bungle up the whole thing.”

At that moment there was a knock on the door and after Thorin’s loud “Enter!” Oin stuck his head in, looking as grumpy as ever.  
“Pardon the interruption, captain, but your supper is ready.” he said.  
“Splendid! I think I worked up a nice appetite now. You can serve.” Thorin said and Oin disappeared again, only to return moments later with plates, the grilled cheese and a carafe of wine with two glasses. He laid the table while Thorin and Bilbo put their instruments to the side and then stood at attention, waiting to serve.  
“You can go, Oin, we’ll serve ourselves. Thank you.” Thorin dismissed the steward and Oin shuffled out again as they sat down at the table. 

“He’s the worst-tempered dwarf I know, but I’ve never eaten better grilled cheese.” Bilbo said, after chewing and swallowing his first bite. 

Thorin nodded. “Agreed. It would be worth to keep him just for that, but he really is the best steward I have ever had.”

Bilbo imagined what Oin would say if he heard that. He’d probably ask for a raise. “Don’t let him ever hear that.” he warned Thorin and the dwarf grinned. “I be damned if I will. He already has too high ideas of himself, can you imagine what he’d do if I told him how much I value him?” They both laughed and Thorin picked up his glas. “To loyal stewards.” He toasted.  
“And to grilled cheese.” Bilbo added and they drank. 

Later, when Bilbo lay in his hammock in his small cabin, he let the day play out again in his mind. It had not been a special day at sea, no heavy weather to beat the ship up, no enemies to do the same, no quarrels among the crew. It had been quite ordinary. Some might have even said it had been a boring day. But Bilbo didn’t think so. As he put his book away and doused the lamp he smiled contently. ‘A good day.’ he thought. ‘That was a really good day.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *=In earlier times “dinner” was the first and biggest meal of the day usually eaten at midday, the evening meal “supper” was a much simpler affair with cold cuts and not always involving cooking. Over the years the time when “dinner” was eaten gradually shifted, especially in fashinable circles, from midday to afternoon to evening. So today most people call the midday meal “lunch” and the evening meal “dinner”, although this meal is also referred to as “tea” in some areas. Dinner can however refer to the midday meal still, regardless of the size and quantity of dishes. A bit confusing maybe, but just so you know, when I use the "dinner" I'm using it the way it would probably have been used on a sailing ship in the 19th century. Maybe silly in an AU, but there you go. 
> 
>  
> 
> **=The Ízunmurkh Azahyiüzidîn are my AU’s version of the Galapagos Islands, with Ízunmurkh meaning shell and Azahyiüzidîn meaning islands. Since the khuzdul name is quite a mouthful, I think they’ll be referred to as Shell Islands most of the time, but I just love me a bit of khuzdul so the name will probably occasionally pop up in the dwarfish language as well. The Khuzdul comes from the wonderful “dwarrowscholar” and any mistakes in the translation are totally mine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I didn't keep you waiting too much with the update but uni, work and life in generall were kinda busy. And I've never in my life written a battle scene and wanted to get it right, so I spent a bit more time on that. 
> 
> Sorry to every person with sailing experience for the poetic licence I am taking with the navigational issues mentioned in this chapter. Just skim over that part and pretend it's not there. ;)
> 
> Some part of the plot and a few lines of dialouge are taken from the movie "Master and Commander" and I don't claim that they are mine.
> 
> Unbeta'ed, so it's probably riddled with mistakes but I was impatient to get the chapter up.
> 
> *TRIGGER WARNING*  
> There's mention of bullying in this chapter, no colourful description but if you are sensitive about this you might want to skip this. 
> 
> There's also a battle scene which involves people getting wounded and the mentioning of blood. Again, please skip if this is something you want to avoid.
> 
>  
> 
> Oh, and here's the bell pattern again:
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
A bit more than two weeks later Fili was almost ready to fling himself over board to create a bit of a diversion. Or maybe fling the midshipmen and especially his brother over board, because the boredom of the last weeks had only been punctuated by silly quarrels among the mids that Fili had taken on himself to mediate and Kili’s cries for help with his mathematics. 

So Fili spend a great amount of time on giving not only Kili but some of the other mids as well supplementary lessons in navigation and mathematics, something that wasn’t part of his job but that he felt was greatly needed. Since there wasn’t much to do he actually did have the time for this, but it was boring, exhausting and irritating to play the teacher. After another reprimand from Thorin, Fili had gotten Kili to dress a bit better, but only because the lieutenant practically forced his younger brother into the appropriate clothes and then also helped him keep his hair under control. The only good thing in the last days was that they had met a ship on its way home to Erebor and so Fili had been able to post his letter to Lady Dis. At least he wasn’t a total failure as a son. As a lieutenant he was feeling rather mediocre at the moment. 

He tried to be fair to himself, there hadn’t been much he could have done, no enemies to attack, no heavy weather to navigate and Thorin always did his calculations himself. Keeping the mids under control should count as quiet an achievement and Fili hoped they would keep up their good manner and the progress they had made. But it wasn’t exactly what he had been looking forward to in this command. Given his uncle’s reputation and Fili’s former experience of serving under him, he had expected a bit more action. 

It was the middle watch and Fili was standing next to the wheel, keeping himself from falling asleep by picking lint from his sleeves. The night was still and the weather calm, only a light wind that barely rippled the water but a few clouds were gathering on the moonlight sky at the horizon. They had been lucky with the weather so far, but it looked like they could be in for some heavier weather. Fili knew it was irresponsible, but he secretly hoped that the clouds wouldn’t disappear again in the morning and that they would meet a nice little storm in the afternoon.

Fili’s wish for some action was granted, but very differently from what he had wished for. He had been relieved from duty and then gone to sleep a few hours, being woken up by the mids loudly blundering about as they got up and dressed. The racket was not louder than usual and slightly subsided when Fili stuck his head out of his cabin to check whether Kili had dressed properly. Most surprisingly his younger brother had managed for once to put on all the clothes he should and they were all fairly clean on top of that. He was even trying to braid his hair and when he failed let Gimli help him. Fili smiled proudly and retreated to his cabin after shouting for Nainn to bring him some warm water. The steward came quickly and Fili washed and got dressed in time to see the mids leave after their breakfast. The whole deck was deserted but for him and Fili enjoyed a quiet breakfast by himself, only disturbed by Nainn asking if he wanted some more ships biscuit. 

Feeling refreshed and in a surprisingly good mood Fili stepped on deck. He wasn’t on watch now and had half a mind to join Dr. Baggins who was sitting on the poop deck with a book in his hand, but as he was ambling aft, Fili heard his uncle call him and so instead of chatting with the doctor he hurried over to the bow of the ship. Thorin was in the middle of a navigation lesson and the midshipmen were clustered around him, holding their sextants up and trying to ascertain their position. The sky was still cloudy and mist was rising from the water, almost obscuring the horizon, so they weren’t having the best of luck with that, but most of them valiantly tried. 

“Well, lieutenant.” Thorin said, as Fili approached the group and the mids all turned to him and gave a quick greeting.  
“Can you show us how to fix our position?” Thorin went on, looking rather amused at the desperate tries of the mids around him. Fili cast a quick look at the sky. He couldn’t see the sun, but the moon was just visible and he thought he could make out the morning star.  
“Yes, captain.” he answered firmly and took the sextant Gimli was holding. It took Fili a bit of squinting and actually guessing to fix on the horizon but he had famously sharp eyes and finally got a reading and jotted it down next to some other figures on the piece of paper that Kili handed him.  
“Is that a reading from earlier?” Fili asked, needing to compare two figures to calculate their position and then started scribbling calculations fast, feeling the eyes of the mids following his pencil. He frowned at the result and checked the sextant again, looked back at the numbers and then frowned again. 

“I think the earlier reading is off.” Fili announced after checking his figures again and saw his uncle nodding approvingly. “We can’t possibly be where the numbers say we are. I’m sorry sir, but I can’t fix our exact position like this, though I could hazard a guess grounded on the readings I took on my last watch.”  
“No, thanks, Durin. You see,” Thorin turned to the mids again, “even a talented mathematician like our lieutenant here can’t do much without exact readings. That’s why you have to take extra care with the sextant. You can’t redeem a bad reading later with good calculations. Keep that in mind.” The midshipmen all nodded dutifully and Thorin smiled at Fili over their heads. 

“So, which star do you think did lieutenant Durin use to take his sight?” Thorin asked the mids. They all mutely shuffled their feet, trying not to catch the captain’s eye. “Midshipmen Durin?” Thorin finally ventured. Kili looked very uncomfortable at being called up. “I don’t know sir. I mean… I think he used the sun, sir? Like we tried to do, sir?” he said uncertainly. The sun should be standing high in the sky now, but the shifting clouds hid it most of the time, only letting a few glimpses be seen once in a while. Thorin shook his head.  
“Tell us, lieutenant, which star did you use for your reading just now?” he asked and the heads of the mids all swivelled from Thorin to Fili again. 

“The morning star, sir.” Fili answered. “It isn’t visible now, but it was when I took the sight. I could have used the moon as well, it’s still visible now. With this kind of cloud cover the sun should not be used for readings. It’s not accurate enough.”

Satisfied Thorin nodded. “Also something to remember, when the sun isn’t clearly visible, you can use other stars to take sight. But in this kind of weather you probably need lieutenant Durin’s eyes to spot them.”

Some of the mids threw looks of admiration at Fili which made him a bit uncomfortable.

“So if you can’t get a decent sight, what do you do? Midshipmen Durin?” Thorin called Kili up again. This time however Kili did have an answer and he gave it with a bright and proud smile. “You take the last position you had and guess, taking your speed and the wind into consideration.” Surprisingly enough, this was something that Kili had a natural talent for, even though he was such a poor mathematician.  
“Very good, Durin.” Thorin praised him and Kili’s smile broadened even more. Fili had to give it to Thorin, he was a good teacher, always trying to encourage his students by pointing out their strengths to them. 

Despite that, Fili had always hated being shown up, even if his uncle was showcasing his strong points in using him as a teaching tool. And not all the cadets were looking admiring, Greni Hunin made a face of disgust behind Thorin’s back and covered it with a sneeze when he noticed Fili’s gaze. 

When Fili had first joined the service as a midshipmen aboard a small vessel commanded by an old friend of his grandfather, Greni had been a mid there for a while already and in the year they had served together before Thorin had drafted Fili to the Orcrist, Greni had made Fili’s life a living hell. He wasn’t very intelligent and therefore despised Fili for his quick learning and bright mind. What Greni lacked in intelligence however, he made up for in cruel cunning and so he had managed to torment the younger dwarf without getting caught. And Fili, not wanting to be a snitch and desperately trying to fit in, had licked his figurative and sometimes literal wounds in private and not ratted his enemy out. The young prince had learned the hard way that his status could not protect him everywhere and that the combination of his high birth and his talents made him a target for hatred borne from jealousy. 

They hadn’t come face to face again for years, Fili had served on the Orcrist, passed up for lieutenant and joined another ship for a while and only when he was back with his uncle’s crew did he hear any news of his old enemy. Fili wasn’t glad to discover that Greni was to join the crew of the Orcrist but had no valuable reason to raise an objection, not that he had been asked for his opinion on the subject anyways. 

Like Fili, Greni had served in the navy since he was a dwarfling, but unlike him he was still a cadet and not an officer. He was quite old to still be a midshipmen, but because his mother was an influential figure in Erebor he had been passed around from Captain to Captain, rather than being kicked out of service for good. Fili had been less than pleased to discover that his old foe was again on the same vessel with him, but so far Greni had not dared doing anything more than give him unfriendly looks. He would have been extremely stupid to actually do something, because it would have been insubordination and in the service that always came close to mutiny, which meant severe recuperations for the offender. 

Still Fili remained on his guard around the other dwarf, the memory of the misery he had experienced on his hands burned into him and remaining very vivid, even after years had passed. 

Thorin dismissed the midshipmen and waved Fili to follow him. Most of the mids scampered off, but a few remained at the forecastle, practising with their sextants. Fili was surprised to see Gimli and Kili also staying behind, showing the youngest mid Nyr Billingson the best way to steady his hands while taking a reading. Fili smiled to himself but then quickly turned his attention to his uncle. 

“I have been keeping an eye on your brother over the last weeks and he has shown vast improvements. I have a feeling you have more to do with this than just having a word with him.” Thorin said, fixing his nephew with an intense look. Fili felt suddenly even more uncomfortable than when the mids had stared at him. He had been spending much time on helping Kili in the last weeks and maybe his uncle didn’t approve of all the help he had given him. But when Thorin went on, his stern face broke into a smile and Fili relaxed. “He’s a lucky dwarf to have a brother like you, Fili. And he will make a great officer and maybe even a great captain one day. I know that your mother asked you to look after him and I also asked you to take care that he behaves. And you’ve done great. But Kili also has to learn to stand on his own feet, because you won’t always be serving on the same ship, you won’t always be there for him.”

Fili nodded. “I know, sir.”

“Good.” Thorin said and clapped Fili on the back. “Well, I think you send him on a good way now, let’s see what he makes of it.” They shared a smile and then Thorin gave Fili another clap and went below to the great cabin and the ship’s log that was waiting for him there. 

Fili took a few turns along the deck but still felt restless. He also was still bored and he had the feeling he was in the way of the sailors, who had to salute every time he passed. Going below again didn’t feel like an option and so Fili decided to go the other way instead. He pulled himself up into the rigging and within minutes he had climbed up to the foremast topsail yard. He swung his legs over the yard, holding on to the mast with one hand and then settled down facing forward. Even from this high up the view wasn’t good today. There was nothing to be seen except a wall of fog and clouds that had gotten thicker and thicker since the early morning. But at the moment Fili didn’t care for the view. He just sat on his lonely seat for an hour, feet dangling over the deck that disappeared and reappeared from sight with the shifting fog, feeling like he was the only living being in the whole world.

When his stomach started to rumble Fili climbed down again, sliding down the ropes for the last few feet and jumping onto the deck, landing with a thump next to the mid Nyr Billingson who gave a small squeak of fright and then saluted, accidently dislodging his own hat. Fili stooped to pick the hat up and handed it to the boy, who swallowed nervously, his lips quivering. “Everything alright, Billingson?” Fili asked, trying to put the dwarfling at ease with a smile. He remembered how frightened he himself had been on his first cruise and it must be much worse for the young dwarf standing nervously in front of him. Nyr’s father was a commoner who had been raised to lordship only recently and the boy wasn’t yet used to his new status. Wanting his son to rise in the world Nyr’s father had used his new influence to get the boy into the service. Nyr was a bright dwarfling but rather small and very shy and Fili was afraid the older midshipmen picked on him. He seemed like the perfect target for a bully like Greni. 

“Yes, sir.” Nyr answered him, hovering between meeting Fili’s eyes and looking away, his cheeks burning bright red. And what else could he say, really. It wasn’t like Fili himself would have complained or confided homesickness to his first officer on his first cruise. 

“Very good. Carry on then.” Fili said and the boy saluted again, this time without knocking his hat off and then scuttled away, disappearing down the ladder to the upperdeck. Having half a mind to follow him and try to talk with the boy, Fili stood uncertainly for a moment but then decided against it. Special treatment by the first lieutenant wouldn’t help the boy in the slightest. A commotion in the forecastle attracted Fili’s attention and he walked over, finding Kili and Gimli in a discussion, both holding their telescopes in their hands and looking worried. 

“What’s the matter, Durin, Gloinson?” Fili asked and the two mids turned to him. 

“Sir, Durin thinks he heard something.” Gimli answered and Fili looked at Kili, who was chewing his lip. “Durin?” Fili asked. 

“Sir, I’m not sure. It sounded like a bell.” Kili finally said. “But the view is too bad, I can’t see anything and the sound was really faint. It could be a reef marker.”

“Gloinson, the lead if you please.” Fili said and grabbed his cousin’s telescope as the mid rushed past him, ordering a sailor to take a sounding of the sea ground. The fog was so thick now that Fili could hardly see more than 50 feet ahead and the shifting sheets of mist created strange patterns, indicated things to the eye that weren’t there. 

“Five fathom!” Gimli’s strong voice came from behind. Pressing the telescope harder against his eye Fili scanned the wall of fog in front of him. Nothing. He let the telescope sink down again. 

“Sand and broken shell!” Gimli echoed the findings of the sailor with the lead and then rushed to the forecastle again. Kili was still staring through his telescope, sweeping slowly from left to right and then suddenly back again. 

“Durin?” Fili asked, noticing the sudden shift. “Did you see something?”

Kili turned around, looking uncertain. “I don’t know, sir. The view...”

Impatiently Fili waved him to silence. “I know the view is bad. Did you see something?”

“I...I think I saw sails, sir. But I’m not sure.” his brother answered. Gimli was back beside them, looking from Kili to his Fili, his face showing his excitement. 

“Well, should we beat to quarters?” Fili asked, trying to keep his voice calm and not implying what sort of action he himself would take. This was Kili’s decision. 

Kili raised his telescope again, squinting at the mist in front of him. “I don’t know, sir.”

“Durin, you’re officer of the watch, you must make a decision.” The first lieutenant urged his brother. Kili took a deep breath, looked at his brother, than at the water again, took another deep breath and nodded. “Beat to quarters.” he said and Fili turned round immediately. “Beat to quarters!” he shouted and the ship erupted in activity, the drum setting in almost instantly and giving an urgent beat to the bustle. 

Only a few minutes later Thorin joined the three young dwarfs at the starboard bow. Without a word Fili handed him the telescope he was holding and Thorin looked ahead. “What have you seen?” he asked. 

“Sir, I think I heard a bell and there was something like a sail for a moment.” Kili answered, standing at attention next to Fili. Under their feet the planks vibrated with the thumping of the sailors’ steps, all working hard on getting the ship ready for battle. Fili could hear the scrape of the portholes being opened and the canons being rolled in position. Below in the part of the ship that would serve as sickbay, Dr Baggins was probably getting his instruments ready, wrapping an apron around himself and putting on protective sleeves to keep blood from his shirt. Thorin peered through the telescope intently and then turned to Fili. “Did you see it, too?” he asked. 

“No, sir.” Fili answered crisply. His uncle looked through the telescope again and they all waited. 

“Good decision to beat to quarters.” he said and Fili breathed out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. 

“It was Midshipmen Durin’s call, sir.” Fili answered and Thorin gave his younger nephew a short nod before lifting his telescope once more. In the short moment that followed Fili gave Kili a smile which his brother answered with broad grin and then hell broke loose. Out of the corner of his eye Fili saw something strange in the mist, a light suddenly flickering like a flash and then Thorin careened into him and Kili, throwing them off their feet and pushing them onto the deck. 

The sound came as they all fell heavily, a muffled bang and then a dull whistle that became louder and then a cannonball whistled over their heads, crashing through the rigging of the foremast. They didn’t even have time to get up again as the next cannonball whistled over their heads, and another one and another one, letting the deck around them erupt with wooden splinters, the shrill howling and crashing deafeningly loud. Thorin was lying heavily on Fili’s body, shielding his head from the debris falling all around them. Kili was next to him, also trapped under their uncle’s weight and facing him. The younger dwarf’s face was set, a bit white perhaps but there was no fear visible in his expression. But where was Gimli? He had been next to Fili before Thorin had pushed them all down, hovering with an eager expression on his face, excited and anxious at the same time now that some action seemed to be happening. What if he had been hit by the cannonball, or by a piece of wood? He could be lying dead already, Fili had seen enough battles to know that death could come swiftly at sea. Since he couldn’t turn his head, Fili groped around with his right hand next to him, trying to find Gimli. His fingers brushed against something coarse, something that felt like Gimli’s hair and as he tugged on the strands, a hand found his wandering fingers and gave them a reassuring squeeze. His cousin was alright and Fili breathed out in relief.

All this happened in mere moments, but Fili had the impression as if these moments of fear for his brother and cousin lasted a long time. He felt Thorin move above him, shifting his body as he tried to get up again. 

Seconds later the weight pressing them down disappeared and they all jumped up to see Thorin already standing with the telescope at the bow, searching the sheets of mist for their attacker. Fili looked at Kili and Gimli, both gave him a nod to show that they were really unhurt and then Fili fixed his attention on his captain again. Thorin cursed, turned round and walked aft, his lieutenant and the two mids following him. Fili’s ears were still ringing from the noise and he shook his head violently to clear them. He guessed more then heard Thorin’s orders for Kili to pull up the colours and then Fili rushed below to the guncrews, feeling the heavy fall of Gimli’s footsteps thumping behind him. 

The drill of the last few weeks had paid off. All crews were ready, the cannons in position and every sailor stood at his canon when Fili stepped onto the upperdeck. He felt a surge of pride through the rush of adrenalin that made his heart beat fast as he watched the dwarves he had trained. To check their opponent’s position he peered out of one porthole. “She’s not in range yet! Stand fast till she’s close enough!” he called to the crews. He cast a quick look sideways and saw determined faces, the sailors bending over the cannons with grim expressions. Another salvo hit them, smashing into the side of the ship. The crash of the impact and the scream of breaking wood was all around Fili, almost as tangible as the shards of metal and large splinters of wood flying through the air. 

“Hold your positions!” he could hear Gimli’s voice booming from the other side of the upper deck and he repeated the call. “Courage now!” he added to the order. Fili could hardly see through the dust and smoke, hazy figures were all he could make out even of the sailors at the nearest gun. There was a pause in the attack and Fili stuck his head through the hole in the side of the ship, ripped there during the second salvo. The mist had partially dissolved and he could see the enemy ship now. She was a three master, but larger than the Orcrist and with a black hull and dark sails. There wasn’t much time for more observation but Fili noticed that the ship flew no colours. “On the upward roll. FIRE!” he roared and the gundeck exploded with noise as the canons fired their loads and jumped back on the recoil. He didn’t even check to see how much damage their guns had caused but ordered the crews to load again. A new wave of shots met them as they were loading and Fili saw the sailor next to him going down, falling heavily to the side. Screams now mixed with the loud bangs of the canon and the groan of wood under stress. As he took a step to the side to let an unconscious sailor be carried away, Fili slipped on something on the floor. He looked down and saw that it was blood. Following the trail with his eyes he saw a sailor cradling his arm, trying to still the flow of blood from a deep cut. “Hunin!” Fili shouted for the midshipmen who was standing to the side, unoccupied at the moment. “Get this dwarf to sickbay.” 

Greni Hunin threw him an angry look, he seemed not to want to leave the place of the most action at the moment but he had no choice but to obey. He hoisted the sailor up and stumbled from the gundeck, a trail of blood following them. For a moment Fili wondered how much more blood there must be now on the planks of the sickbay, where Dr Baggins was surely doing his best to care for the wounded. But then his attention was called back to the task at hand and he forgot about the blood and the wounded. 

The guns were ready and after peering out the hole in the ship’s hull, Fili shouted his order to fire again and the guns roared as they shot their load at the enemy ship. After the second discharge the smoke on the gundeck was now so thick, that Fili couldn’t see their opponent any more. But they were still there and they made their presence known soon enough as another salvo hit the Orcrist. The impact was the heaviest so far, several shots hitting the hull at the same time and the ship shock violently. Fili was thrown of his feet, hitting his head on a beam. He blacked out, coming round again a few minutes later on deck, where he had been carried by some sailors to be out of the way. But the chaos on deck seemed even worse than below. Parts of the rigging were hanging low, obstructing the way and some of the spars had fallen down, cluttering the deck along with other debris. 

Fili got up from where he had been tucked under a beam out of harm’s way and looked around, trying to gather more about their situation. His head hurt terribly but he knew now was not the time to give in to physical pain. He was the first lieutenant and this was a battle, so he was needed. Casting his gaze around, he saw Thorin rushing astern and followed him. “We are making water, Captain. Two feet already. Pumps are still managing but it doesn’t look to good.” the carpenter Dori Burison was telling Thorin as Fili arrived at their side. Thorin had lost his hat and his hair had come partially loose from his braid, dark strands clinging to his sweaty skin. His face was set in a stern and angry way as he fixed the carpenter with his gaze. 

“So we have to run?” Thorin asked and Dori screwed up his face uncomfortably, scratching his head through his intricate braids. 

“All I can say is a few more hits and the hull could be broken beyond repair. And if the mast gets a direct hit...Their firing power is like nothing I have ever seen.” the carpenter said. Thorin made a growling noise deep in his throat and turned away, noticing Fili for the first time. “Get everything ready for manoeuvring. The enemy is too strong. We have to run and hide. Make for the bank of mist.” Thorin ordered and Fili ran to get the order around.

They were in luck, really. They had the wind in their favour and their enemy, though obviously a fast ship with a highly efficient crew, could not turn fast enough to follow them into the banks of mist. The Orcrist glided into the clouds and as ordered everybody on board fell silent immediately. Every sound could now give their position away and only the absolute necessary tasks were taken care of, the sailors using sign language to communicate the orders. Like their attacker had used the fog to sneak up on them before, they now used the dense clouds of water droplets to hide from him. They could hear some muffled bangs, as their enemy fired a last salvo after them, but they were already deep in the mist and out of range, so the shots hit the water harmlessly. 

Fili had returned to his uncle’s side and watched his grim expression. “Damn his hide.” Thorin whispered to himself, clutching the wood of the rail with both his hands and staring in the direction the last shots had come from.

And Fili could feel his frustration. He had wanted some action, but this had turned out to be nothing like he had dreamed of. They had been taken by surprise and then beaten up badly by their attacker. This was in fact the first time that Fili had to have to run from a fight and he didn’t like the feeling. If he knew his uncle, and Fili thought he knew him quite well, then Thorin would be even more angry than Fili about this. 

“I want to know how bad our damages are.” Thorin told Fili and turned away to talk with Balin, then turning round again and added. “And the casualties.” To anyone not in the navy this would sound harsh, like Thorin cared more about the ship then the lifes of the sailors that were under his command. But everyone on board would understand. The ship was everybody’s first priority. Had to be everybody’s first priority. The Orcrist was their home, their mother, rocking them to sleep on the waves, keeping them safe. And damage to the ship meant damage to everybody on her, like they were actually all small parts of her great, wooden body. 

Fili answered “Yes, sir.” and proceeded to walk with the carpenter all over the ship. Dori Burison, who was one of the neatest dwarves Fili had ever met, was looking positively dishevelled very soon because he had run his hands through his intricately braided hair in desperation and that was while they had only paid attention to the big damages.

“Oh, this is going to take forever to repair!” Dori complained in a slightly whiny voice that seemed to drill right into Fili’s skull. The place where he had hit his head was throbbing uncomfortably and sending shots of pain through his head and down his spine. The more he walked around the worse it got and on top of the pain, he was starting to feel dizzy and his vision was strangely blurred every other second. He took a few deep breaths and continued with the inspection, walking next to Dori who would sigh heavily whenever he found another thing to add to the quickly lengthening list of necessary repairs. Every step Fili took sent a jet of pain to the bump on his head, that he had found with ginger fingers and which felt like it had swelled rapidly in the last half hour, though luckily it wasn’t bleeding. The pain wasn’t even bothering him that much, he’d had had worse injuries than a little bump on the head. The dizziness however was starting to get to Fili, he felt his stomach rolling like it had on his first day at sea. It had been ages since Fili had last been seasick and he wondered distractedly what had brought on this sudden and very inconvenient bout now. 

Keeping his breathing deep and slow, Fili tried to keep up with Dori and his list. He didn’t have anything to take notes on now and had to rely on his and the carpenter’s memory for his report to the captain later. The sides of his vision turned cloudy again and since shaking his head made the dizziness and pain worse Fili screwed up his eyes, which helped with his blurred vision, but not with the pain or the dizziness. 

When they were finally finished with their round, Fili excused himself from the carpenter who nodded absently and then the first lieutenant went to the rail and vomited over the side of the ship. His head felt like it was about to explode and even when Fili’s stomach was empty he continued to heave dryly. He gripped the railing tightly, feeling disorientated, hardly knowing where was up and where down. Somebody snickered nearby and the sound seeped through the clouds that were beginning to obfuscate Fili’s consciousness and he felt a short moment of panic. He knew that snicker, he knew what must surely follow hearing this odious and feared sound. But then, just as his knees gave out under him and he was sinking down to the planks, he felt strong arms under his, wrapping themselves securely around his body, rescuing him from the fall. 

“Fili, careful now.” He heard a voice, like it was coming from very far away. This voice he knew too. But it was a good voice, a voice that meant security. And sure enough, it was Kili holding him. The closeness of a warm body, the familiar voice and feel of his brother brought Fili back to consciousness and he was glad for it, even though it meant that he could feel the pain in his head more sharply again.

“Kili, ‘m not well.” Fili slurred, his tongue not wanting to follow his will. 

“I know. I’m taking you below to the doctor now.” Kili said, keeping a secure grip around Fili’s waist and then lead him down to sickbay, where Fili sunk gratefully down unto a few planks propped up on barrels and then more gratefully still into unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting ever slower with updates, I'm sooooo sorry for that. I had a few busy weeks and busy weekends and I didn't come round to do much writing. But here it is now, the next chapter. I hope it's up to scratch. 
> 
> *TRIGGER WARNING*:  
> Mentioning of blood and wounds. Nothing really descriptive but probably enough for sensitive people. 
> 
>  
> 
> As always, the bell pattern:
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
Below in the belly of the Orcrist, Bilbo had his hands full. As soon as the first rolls of the drum had been heard, he had rushed to the small space in the Lower Deck that served as operation room and sickbay, wrapping a large apron around himself and adjusting a pair of pince-nez on his nose. It was always so gloomy below deck and years of working in dimly lit rooms had started to take a toll on Bilbo’s eyesight. He refused to believe that it could have anything to do with getting older. 

Bilbo’s assistant Bildr was already there when the hobbit arrived, lighting lamps, putting rough wooden boards on barrels to serve as operating tables and strewing the floor with sand so that they would have a better foothold on the planks, because if they actually entered battle the floor would be soon covered in slippery blood. Only shortly did Bilbo entertain the hope that the call of the drums had been a false alarm. The first barrage thundered dully in the low ceilinged room, shaking the ship and making Bilbo clutch at a beam for support. He felt a short rush of adrenalin, felt fear for his life, but he had been in battles before and he trusted Thorin’s skills as a tactician to make sure that he would have the dubious joy to live through many more battles with him. And then there was no time for fear or deeper thoughts about the necessity of war and violence, because the first casualties were carried below and Bilbo set to work, his mind now occupied with the best care for the wounded. 

While the guns above thundered and the cannonballs crashed into the hull of the Orcrist, jolting her with the heavy blows, Bilbo lost track of time. He didn’t even hear the loud noises any more, concentrating on the task at hand. Having seen quite a few battles, the injuries that presented themselves were not surprising to Bilbo and he worked with sure hands, sowing gaping wounds, setting bones and removing large splinters from limbs and bodies. Sometimes he called Bildr over to help him hold a trashing dwarf down, or shift an unconscious one around, or just to show the dwarf something Bilbo thought he needed to learn. 

Bilbo always took opportunities like this to teach Bildr something new because his assistant was also his apprentice in a way. It had all happened by chance really. During his first battle, Bilbo had grabbed the first sailor who passed his way to help him with the wounded and this sailor had been Bildr. He had not flinched when he had to hold another sailor down so Bilbo could amputate his foot and he had followed every order with speed and accuracy. And he had stayed after the battle was over, helping Bilbo with the wounded. Bilbo had watched him change dressings and cool feverish foreheads and then he had asked the dwarf if he would be willing to do this kind of work more often. Bildr had tugged on his long, wild beard, which was covered in blood after hours of caring for the wounded, looked at Bilbo with his dark eyes silently for a while and then nodded. Next time he turned up he had cut his beard short. “Would only hang in the wounds and get bloody.” he answered to Bilbo’s question why he had done that. The hobbit, who knew how much the dwarves valued their beards and hair even if he didn’t completely understand why, was even more impressed with Bildr. He had watched the dwarf for a few weeks and then asked Thorin if Bildr could be officially logged as his assistant in the muster book. This took a bit of grumbling on Thorin’s and coaxing on Bilbo’s side, since Bildr had been rated able seadwarf and Thorin didn’t like having his dwarves taken away from him. The captain had called Bildr to the great cabin to talk with him about Bilbo’s request and after that he had allowed the change of rating. Bilbo had not been present for the conversation and he never asked what Bildr had said to change Thorin’s mind. But since then Bildr had been Bilbo’s assistant and Bilbo had taken care that he not only followed instructions, but learned how to take care of patients himself. Bilbo was after all not always there to help and if he himself got injured he wanted somebody at hand who knew what to do. 

Bildr was a strange sort of fellow, even for a dwarf. He didn’t talk much and he never complained. He listened and occasionally asked questions about what Bilbo told him and otherwise worked silently by his side, watching every move of Bilbo’s hands with sharp eyes. He was a quick learner and had under Bilbo’s guidance reached a certain proficiency of his own. Bilbo was glad for his luck in grabbing the dwarf’s arm on that fateful day years back.

Some of the injuries they were treating now were mild enough to send the sailors back to their stations after taking care of them, but there were also those wounds that would require much more attention. And some might even prove fatal.

Bilbo was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t even notice when the noise of the guns stopped. Only when Bildr touched his arm did he look up and then blinked for a few moments, till the words he was hearing actually registered. “Battles over. Silence on board.” the dark haired dwarf whispered and Bilbo nodded. Then he started his work again. The dwarves he was treating were his shipmates, most of them known to him for many years but they became anonymous limbs under his hands, his ears numb to the cries of pain around him. Later he would go to the individual dwarves, would look at the dressings and talk a few words with the ones that were conscious. But now, now he was more help to them if he didn’t care who they were. No more casualties had been brought below for a while now and after Bilbo sewed another cut, he found himself without a patient for the first time in what felt like days but had in reality only been about 2 hours. He looked around, searching for Bildr and saw him rushing from the stove in the galley with a bucket of hot water.

“No more injuries?” Bilbo asked, his throat feeling dry. 

“None at the moment, doctor.” Bildr answered, pouring some into a shallow bowl and then searching for a flask, which he handed to Bilbo. The hobbit took it gratefully and took small sips of lukewarm water. 

“Good. Then I think we can start with cleaning up here.” Bilbo said. At that moment there was a cluttering noise from the stairs and shortly after that Kili came into view, with Fili being half carried half dragged behind. Bilbo felt his stomach sink. He had known Fili almost as long as Thorin, being entreated to visit the court and Thorin’s family by his friend only weeks after they had gotten to know each other. He had seen him grow up from a shy dwarfling to a confident officer. And Bilbo did not want to see him injured. 

“He isn’t too well.” Kili said, his face pale and full of worry as he carried his brother over to Bilbo. Fili was even paler than Kili, his eyes half closed and his feet dragging. “Put him down there.” Bilbo ordered and he could see the light of consciousness fleeing from Fili’s eyes as he was lowered onto the table. 

“Bildr, more light.” Bilbo ordered and then checked Fili’s pupils. They constricted, but the reaction was slow, too slow even for somebody who was unconscious. “What happened?” Bilbo asked Kili, who was still standing to the side. 

“Don’t know, Bilbo. I saw him standing at the rail, and was about to go over to him and then I saw he was puking and then he kind of swayed and sagged and I ran and just caught him before he fell down.” Kili told the hobbit.

“Mmh.” Bilbo said, tenderly feeling Fili’s head. His fingers came upon a large bump on the back of it. “Help me turn him.” Bilbo said and Kili rushed forward before Bildr could and gently turned his brother to the side to give Bilbo a better view of the injury. Even through the mass of Fili’s hair Bilbo could see the bump. There was a bit of dried blood, but Fili didn’t seem to have lost a large amount of it.

“He must have got a heavy hit to the head, but the skull doesn’t feel broken. Pupils are reactive but slow, add the vomiting and disorientation Kili saw and we’re looking at a concussion.” Bilbo told Bildr and showed him how to feel the skull for any abnormalities. “So there isn’t much I can do for him. He needs rest and quiet.” Bilbo turned to Kili now with an apologetic tone. This was a part of his profession he hated, when there was nothing for him to do but trust into the recuperative powers of the patients and hope that they would pull through. Kili looked at him with big, worried eyes, looking more like a lost puppy than a dwarf of his age had any right to look. “I’m sure he’ll be alright. You Durins all have thick skulls.” Bilbo said, trying to soothe Kili’s worries as much as his own. “He can stay here for now, I’ll watch him. When you’ve cleaned up the mess that I’m sure is on deck, you can come back with Gimli and carry him to his own cabin. He’ll have more peace there. And now shoo!” Bilbo waved Kili away with an impatient hand and the young dwarf obeyed, although he looked back at Fili’s before he was lost from view. 

The hobbit was certainly not as unconcerned as he wanted Kili to believe. He couldn’t be sure how severe the injury was, it could very well really only be a concussion, but if the hit had caused a bleed in the brain, there wasn’t anything really that Bilbo could do for Fili. Now the only thing was to hope that he woke up from the unconsciousness soon and that was the real reason why Bilbo wanted Fili to stay in the sickbay for now. If he didn’t come out of his faint soon, Bilbo would try to wake him up, but that was always risky and he wanted to wait till he had no other choice. If Fili slipped into a coma however he was as good as dead. 

Bilbo fought the urge to rub his tired eyes, his hands were covered in blood and he didn’t want to smear it all over his face and then remembered the water Bildr had brought. He quickly washed the worst grime away and then started a slow round of his patients again, checking their bandages and their breathing, while Bildr started cleaning the floor. 

The doctor was satisfied to see that all his patients looked stable. Just as he was changing a bandage that had bleed through, he heard Bildr call. “Dr. Baggins, the lieutenant is waking up!” and the hobbit rushed over to see Fili’s eyelids flutter open, revealing blue eyes that still looked slightly unfocused but aware of his surroundings. 

“Hello there.” Bilbo said in a low voice, gently laying his hand on Fili’s forehead. “Good to see you are awake. Do you know who I am?”

The lieutenant moved his lips soundlessly and Bilbo reached for the bottle of water, tipping a few drops of water over Fili’s dry lips. The dwarf swallowed laboriously and licked his lips. “Bilbo.” he whispered and Bilbo breathed out, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Bildr’s shoulders had sagged in relief. 

“Know where you are?” he asked and Fili promptly answered “Orcrist. Battle.”

“Very good.” Bilbo praised and gave him another sip of water from the bottle. “Do you remember what happened?” Fili blinked his eyes rapidly and then tried to shake his head, which made him wince. “Lie still. You’ve got a concussion and you need rest now. I’ll give you something for the head pain and then you can go to sleep. But no more fainting, all right?”

Fili managed a weak smile and Bilbo felt reassured by that. He went to get a small pouch with white powder from his medicine bag and stirred a pinch of it in a cup of water. Then he helped Fili sit up to drink it down in one go. The dwarf sank down with a sigh again and Bilbo watched him till only a few minutes later his breath slowed down and he had fallen asleep. Bilbo checked his pulse and pupils, was satisfied with the result and then directed his attention to his other patients again. 

It was late evening when Thorin stepped into the sick bay, looking tired and dishevelled. There were streaks of dirt on his face and shirt, his hair was coming loose from his braid, strands of it falling into his face and there was blood on his forehead. Bilbo looked up as he heard the dwarf approach and left the sailor he had just been washing to the care of Bildr. 

“How are things here?” Thorin asked as Bilbo stepped up to him and eyed him critically. “As they usually are after a battle.” Bilbo said and pulled the dwarf closer to a lamp to examine the wound on his face. Thorin let himself be steered without resistance and then sat down on a low stool by Bilbo’s direction. 

“Two sailors dead, another one might not make the night. 32 treated for injuries on the whole, most of them not severe. 7 still in sickbay.” Bilbo summarised his work of the day as he prodded at the cut on Thorin’s forehead. Thorin didn’t even flinch and since the small injury had already stopped bleeding, Bilbo decided to let it alone. It would probably heal best on its own. The dwarf leaned against the beam next to him wearily. “How bad are the damages?” Bilbo asked him.

“Bad. Haven’t had the full report yet, but from what I can see it’s going to take some time. Blast it, they beat us up good and proper.” Thorin cursed and Bilbo shushed him, motioning to the wounded, most of whom were sleeping now. “Sorry.” Thorin whispered sheepishly and then sighed, shaking his head. “There we were, searching for our enemy and they sneak up on us like that.” 

Bilbo screwed up his eyes and then tilted Thorin’s head to the side, revealing a large bloodstain on the collar of his shirt. He leaned in closer and found a large splinter stuck in Thorin’s neck and carefully pulled it out, showing it to the dwarf with a meaningful look. A surprised “Huh.” was all the reaction the dwarf gave and Bilbo shook his head. Then he pulled the collar of the shirt down to look at the wound made by the splinter. A small drop of blood was oozing from the puncture but this as well would heal on its own. “You need to clean up, make sure you don’t get dirt in the wounds.” Bilbo told the dwarf and he nodded, getting up with a small groan and made as to leave. 

“Are…are you not going to look after Fili?” Bilbo asked tentatively. Thorin froze in his movement and turned round sharply again. “Fili’s here? I’ve been searching for the lad and…” he let the sentence trail away and followed Bilbo’s motioning hand to the makeshift bed Fili was lying on. “I thought you already knew he’s here. Kili brought him down.” Bilbo explained in a whisper. 

“How bad is it?” Thorin asked, his voice calm and face neutral but Bilbo wasn’t fooled. He could tell from the set of Thorin’s jaw that he was deeply worried as he looked at his sleeping nephew. 

“Concussion. Got quite a bump on his head. He’ll sleep it off and be up and about in a few days.” Bilbo assured his friend. 

Thorin pursed his lips and gave a jerky nod. “Good. Keep me updated on everybody’s condition.” With that he turned away and strode from the sickbay, leaving Bilbo alone in the small pool of yellow light cast from the lantern hanging from the ceiling. 

One of the wounded sailors died during the night, as Bilbo had feared. The others however would pull through and Bilbo took comfort in that. Especially the fact that Fili was very likely to make a speedy recovery was a reason for Bilbo to be quite content. The dwarf had woken up in the early morning still with a tremendous headache and slightly nauseous when he sat up, but he now remembered what had happened during the battle and his pupils were reacting normal again, so Bilbo was more than happy to let Kili and Gimli carry him to his own cabin where he would have more privacy. Kili seemed to be eager to look after Fili and so Bilbo gave him instructions for his brother’s care. Given that this only meant letting the patient sleep and taking care that he drank some broth and later had gruel, Bilbo was sure that even a flighty and disorganized person like Kili could do this and if there was any problem Bilbo was always at hand to take care of it. 

Bilbo had not really slept during the night, only stealing a few moments of rest when the fatigue had been too much. So when Oin came round to the sickbay to tell Bilbo that Thorin was waiting for him in the large cabin with breakfast, Bilbo was tempted to decline the offer and just go to sleep. He was quite hungry however and so he told Oin to thank the Captain for his consideration and that he would be around in a few minutes. Bildr only nodded when Bilbo told him he’d be with the captain and to call when he was needed and then quickly went to wash and change in his cabin. 

The great cabin was already full of people when Bilbo arrived. Sailing master Balin Fundin was talking with the captain, Balin’s younger brother Dwalin, lieutenant of the Royal Marines, standing at their side, while Kili and Ori stood at the large stern window, looking out at the sunlight waves and discussing something with serious faces. Oin was shuffling around between them all, laying the table and muttering to himself. Except for Thorin, who had obviously washed and changed into a fresh shirt, all the dwarves were still covered in dust and dirt from the battle, some of them sporting minor injuries like little cuts and bruises that they probably hadn’t even registered. 

When he had gone to his cabin, Bilbo had seen signs of the battle on the ship as well. Most of the debris had already been cleared away but there was lots of splintered wood everywhere and makeshift repairs already in presence in most places. The state of affairs was also apparent in the great cabin. There was a hole in the hull, provisionally closed with a few panes of wood and one of the glass plates in the rear window had been smashed. It actually seemed miraculous that only one of them had been shattered in the attack, but then the enemy probably hadn’t aimed for the cabin and rather at targets that promised more damaging for the ship.

“There you are, my dear doctor!” Thorin boomed when Bilbo entered the room and motioned him over to sit in a chair next to him. “Splendid! Then we can eat. Oin, if you please.” As everybody settled down and the steward started to serve plates of bacon, steaks and porridge, Thorin leaned over to Bilbo and quietly told him “I thought it would be best to gather everybody here to discuss the battle and our plans to proceed from here.” 

Bilbo nodded and used the closeness to squint at the small cut on Thorin’s forehead, finding that it had by now completely scabbed and looked to be already healing. The shadows under Thorin’s eyes told Bilbo that his friend as well had not slept more than a few minutes this night. At least he had taken Bilbo’s advice and washed, taking care to clean his wounds and put on fresh clothes. Bilbo wondered if Oin had been very angry about the blood stains on Thorin’s collar. The steward had in all likelihood thrown quite a tantrum over the state of his captain’s shirts. 

“How is Fili?” Thorin asked, still leaning close and Bilbo looked down from a creased forehead to blue eyes looking worried. Bilbo had send Bildr round to Thorin as soon as Fili had woken up in the morning, but had not given him any more specifics about his condition than that he seemed to be ok. 

“He’ll be alright. Still got a huge bump on his head and he needs rest, so I would ask you to please excuse him from duty for the next days.” Bilbo told the captain. “It is only a concussion, so he’ll heal completely, I’m sure. But only if he gets enough rest now.”

Thorin leaned back and sighed deeply, but nodded. “Of course. I’d rather have him right back on duty, but I trust your judgement in this matter. Only, please don’t keep him in bed longer than necessary. I need him.”

Bilbo smiled and said “I know.” 

Breakfast usually wasn’t a formal meal and even with so many officers present the atmosphere was a relaxed one. Kili even leaned over Balin to tell Bilbo that he had left Gimli in charge of looking after Fili for the moment, but that he would return to his brother’s side as soon as his duties allowed. 

“I’m sure that he’s ok. You don’t have to sit by his bedside all the time.” Bilbo told Kili, but the mid didn’t look convinced and told the hobbit he would watch his brother nevertheless. Bilbo smiled inwardly. Kili was really growing up at last it seemed. Maybe Fili taking care of his brother and now being in need of his care in turn had actually managed to do what years of service in the navy had not, which was instil a sense of duty and responsibility in Kili. 

When the plates had been more or less emptied, Thorin cleared his throat and immediately a hush fell over the congregation. “Gentlemen, I think we all agree that yesterday was an embarrassing debacle that we don’t want to repeat.” Bilbo watched the stony faces around him nodding and nodded along, even though he didn’t really know what exactly had happened during the battle. 

Bilbo watched the faces of the assembled dwarves as they all gave their reports, describing in varying detail how the battle had been perceived by them. Thorin listened with a very concentrated face, interrupting once in a while to ask after specific details and then nodding to himself. Balin mimicked Thorin’s facial expressions, but kept quiet most of the time. Ori looked worried, except when he had to give his own report. Then he first blushed furiously and stumbled over his words in his excitement but as he talked he got more confident, ending his small speech in a confident tone of voice, though his face remained quite red for a while after he had sat down again. Bilbo smiled to himself. The young dwarf was obviously still shy, especially around the officers, but could overcome his rather quiet nature when it was needed and it was quite obvious that he was very smart. His position as master’s mate was a good one, but Bilbo thought that the young dwarf might ascend higher in the service, given that he had a patron to speak for him. From his conversations with the carpenter Dori, Ori’s older brother, Bilbo knew that the Burisons came from a slightly questionable background and had therefore always been looked upon with a certain degree of contempt by many other dwarves, which had hindered their promotion in the service. Thorin however had always valued capacity over background and Bilbo was sure he would at least listen to the recommendation of keeping an eye on Ori. 

Balin gave an account of the ships damages in a calm voice, but his creased forehead and stern face told Bilbo that he took the damages to the ship as a personal injury. 

Bilbo was last in line to talk about the damages done to living beings and when he ended his short speech everybody at the table was wearing the same quietly angry expression. Thorin let everything sink in for a while and then got up from his seat, starting to pace at the head of the table as he talked. 

“Well, I can tell you now that we have been ordered to stop the enemy. The king has expressed his great worry about the damages that a ship like that can do to our merchants and the trading routes. And now that we have all seen what they are capable off, you will agree with me that it is more than our duty to make sure they have no more opportunity to cause us harm.” Thorin stopped and banged his fist on the table. “We cannot allow this to go on!”

While Thorin ranted on a bit about the enemy, Bilbo let his mind wander and only came back to reality when Balin stood up to survey the map that had been placed on the table. “About the damages, we are still making water, though the pumps can handle it. I’m more worried about the mast. The topyard needs to be replaced, that is for certain. The sails can probably be repaired, I’ve men already working on that. But I think we need to get to port quickly and the nearest one is Balar. It’s an elvish port, but it’ll do. So do we divert the route?” he turned his head to Thorin. 

Everybody in the room turned their gaze on the captain, including Bilbo. Thorin stood with his hand stroking over the wooden boards with a pondering look on his face. Bilbo watched him closely and saw the short tightening of the lips that said Thorin had just made a decision he would not budge from. “No. We won’t go into port.” he said and turned to look at the dwarves at the table. All of them immediately opened their mouth, reminding Bilbo strangely of birds in a nest when the mother comes home with a worm, but Thorin waved them to silence. 

“We can refit at sea. The damages are not so severe that we really have to go to port.” he said and fixed them all with a steely gaze. 

Bilbo, who had no idea if this was accurate or not, remained silent. For his patients it did not really matter if they were at sea or at land, so he didn’t feel entitled to an opinion. Instead he listened to the others voicing their concern. 

“Sir, with all due respect, but is this wise?” Balin said cautiously. He didn’t like opposing his captain, that was obvious, but he was also meticulous, thorough and careful and right now the worry for the ship outweighed every other concern. 

“Mr. Burison tells me that all repairs can be executed at sea.” Thorin told him and Balin sighed heavily, but nodded. 

“I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but will the repairs done at sea be as good as those done in port? And then there is the question of provisions. We lost some of our freshwater stocks in the fight. We have to go to port to restock.” Balin said in his leveled tone, always the voice of reason and Thorin pursed his lips at that. Bilbo smiled inwardly. He knew from own experience that dealing with Thorin when he had made up his mind could feel like talking to a brickwall. The fact that he actually heard and thought about objections to his plan showed how much Thorin valued Balin. 

“We can get water and provisions en route and that way we won’t lose more time than necessary.” Thorin said after a moment’s thinking and Balin sighed, with a defeated look on his face. 

“There are other things that should be taken into consideration.” interjected Lieutenant Dwalin of the royal Marines. He was one of the few dwarves that towered even over Thorin and if that wasn’t enough, he was also a broad as a barn, his thickly muscled arms and shoulders stretching the material of his red uniform in a way that Bilbo found disconcerting. The dwarf was also fiercely loyal to Thorin and had braved many battles with him, so despite his uneasiness about Dwalin’s physique and frankly his mental status, Bilbo valued the marine as somebody who took great pains to keep Thorin safe and alive. Which was something that Bilbo also strived to achieve.

Although Dwalin had been very angry about the course the battle had taken and was seething with anger and obviously keen on retribution, he now still had objections to Thorin’s plan. “Maybe we shouldn’t be running after them like this? The enemy has shown their superior strength.” At this a muttering broke out on the table but Dwalin fixed them all with a stern gaze and the gathering calmed down again. “It is true, no use in denying that. Their firing power is greater than ours and their hull stronger. Which brings me to my point which is that we should try to get reinforcement.” Dwalin said in his low growling voice and turned to look at Thorin. 

“Getting reinforcement is a splendid idea, but it would take too long. We don’t know which ships are in the vicinity and even if there are any, their orders might not permit them to help us give chase. We’re in this alone and going back to any port will only serve to lose time and allow the enemy to proceed in their course of destruction.” Thorin said and shared a dark look with Dwalin. 

“I value your input and consideration but I am adamant in this. We will refit at sea and restock on the way. If our enemy wants to keep robbing our merchant-ships, he’ll have to go in the direction of the Shell Islands and we will come upon them sooner or later.” Thorin said in a tone of voice that didn’t allow any more argument. 

And so it was decided and executed as Thorin ordered. Now that the repairs of the ship were actually under way, Bilbo could see at least one very great downside to refitting at sea. He and his patients could not evade the noise of hammers and saws, going all day and often way into the night and since the carpenter and his men needed every bit of space on deck for their makeshift workshop, Bilbo was denied his usual walks there. To allow the stronger of his patients at least some air, he had talked Thorin into letting him use part of the poop deck for a few hours every day and there Bilbo had the mids rig up a large canvas as protection against the sun. Under it the patients that were strong enough to be carried up the stairs would sit for a bit every day and Bilbo was certain they healed all the better for it. 

Bilbo had a bit of a quarrel with Thorin over Fili. The first lieutenant had stayed confined to his cabin for two days, during which his condition improved greatly. This pleased Bilbo, who also liked to see Kili engaged in the care for his brother, bringing him food and drink, helping him wash and always checking on him in case his older brother needed something. But in the early morning off the third day after the battle Bilbo saw Fili walking around on deck, with a pale face and pinched expression, and so the doctor immediately searched out Thorin. 

The captain was in his cabin, discussing something about the repairs of the mainyard with Dori and Bilbo waited with mounting impatience for them to finish. Finally Dori started to roll up the sketches which Bilbo took as his cue to step forward. Thorin turned to Bilbo with a smile, but the hobbit hardly acknowledged the friendly welcome and immediately launched into an angry attack. 

“Thorin, why is Fili on deck? I haven’t declared him fit for duty yet and I’m sure that I won’t do for at least two more days. You said you’d follow my medical advice and yet the poor lad is already working again.” Bilbo told Thorin in a very stern and unusually loud voice. The dwarf’s smile had slipped from his face as soon as he had noticed Bilbo’s bad temper and now looked rather taken aback to be attacked in this way by his best friend. Dori, who sensed that he should not be present for this conversation, snatched up his things in uncharacteristic untidiness and hastily left the cabin, touching his forehead with his knuckles as he went. Both Bilbo and Thorin ignored the carpenter’s exit. 

“I thought you valued my medical expertise.” Bilbo ranted on. “But not only are you blatantly ignoring me, you are risking your nephew’s health. A bump on the head might not look that bad but a concussion like that can lead to serious complications if not healed properly. I know, I know, he is the first officer and you need him, but is this ship and your hunt really worth your nephew’s health? We’ll catch them eventually, you know that as well as I do. A few days won’t matter!”

While Bilbo vented his anger, Thorin’s face gradually grew more serious till he eventually was scowling at Bilbo quite fiercely. “Bilbo!” he finally shouted over the hobbit’s rant and got up from his chair, thumping the table with his fist. Bilbo stopped in midsentence, but looked like he was ready to keep going. “First of all, you can not speak to me like that in front of Dori. You are allowed to speak your mind to me, in this cabin. In private. But under no circumstances should you do this when members of the crew are present. I am the captain on this ship and the decisions I make are not open to discussion later. I value your input, not only in medical matters, you know that but I am not bound in any way to your recommendations.”

“No, of course not. The service always goes first with you. I just thought your nephew means more to you than… ” Bilbo started but Thorin cut across him, shouting him down. “Enough! Bilbo, you are going too far. I am your friend, but I am also your captain and I will not be talked to like this.” the dwarf growled and the two looked at each other over the table, red faced and furious. 

“And how can you say something like that. You know what Fili means to me. I couldn’t care more for the boy if he was my own son.” Thorin had lowered his voice, but it sounded clipped and full of anger and also full of hurt. Seeing how much his friend was touched by what he said, Bilbo felt his anger drain away very suddenly. Of course he knew that Thorin loved his nephews. He had doted on them from the second they were born, persuading his own grandfather to declare Fili as Thorin’s official successor when the boy had only been a few days old. This was rather unusual since Thorin was still young enough to have sons later and in dwarfish tradition, once somebody was included in the line of succession, the only way they could lose their position was by death or if they committed high treason. Any future son of Thorin would therefore come after his nephew in the line of succession but Thorin had stood his ground and Fili was named Thorin’s heir.  
Bilbo had met Thorin a few years later, after Kili had been born and the boys’ father had already disappeared, but he knew the story. And since Bilbo was a frequent visitor to Erebor once Thorin and him had established their friendship, he could see for himself that Thorin adored his sister’s little boys. He was constantly talking about them when they weren’t around and when they were Thorin either played with them or tried to teach them something, sometimes all at the same time. Hobbits loved children and Bilbo had thought he had seen proud fathers among his own family and acquaintances at home in the Shire, but it was nothing against the way with which Thorin looked upon his nephews, his eyes shining with so much pride and love. It was indeed a low hit, to accuse Thorin of not caring for Fili and Bilbo felt guilt settle in his stomach as Thorin continued. 

“Before you come here and start shouting out accusations, you might have asked me what this is about. Fili approached me about an hour ago, telling me he’s been feeling better and wants something to do. I told him that I was hesitant to do anything against your advice but he insisted and I finally gave in. I told him he could resume his duties for not more than three hours today and that he is to go back to rest immediately afterwards. I also told him to let you check him over.” Thorin told Bilbo, still in rather curt tones. “I probably shouldn’t have allowed him back to duty and instead send him directly to you, but Fili was adamant that he could manage a few hours. I thought that would do him no harm.” Thorin pinched the bridge of his nose and then sighed.  
“I will send for him and tell him to go back to his cabin.” He said and let himself fall back into his chair again, making the wood creak under his considerable weight. Thorin fixed Bilbo with a level gaze. “Would that meet with your approval, doctor?”

Bilbo had only waited for Thorin to let him speak and now did so with urgency. “Thorin, please forgive my outbreak. I should not have said that you don’t care for Fili’s wellbeing. That was very wrong of me. And of course I should not have come here, accusing you of scorning my advice in this matter. It was my concern for Fili momentarily clouding my better judgement.” He looked pleadingly at Thorin and was glad when the dwarf gave him a wan smile.

“Of course, Dr Baggins. The care for your patients is your foremost interest and I value that very much. But you have to understand that I have to think of the whole crew, of a whole kingdom. And even if you had been right in this, I can not have you questioning me in this way.” 

The two friends looked at each other silently for a moment, until Bilbo bit his lip and looked away. He had been wrong to harass Thorin about this particular thing, that he would admit. But in general he had never seen quite eye to eye with his friend about the discipline on board of a ship and the way that a captain was the closest thing to the gods while at sea, with total power over every soul on board. Hobbits didn’t have the kind of hierarchy in their society that dwarves were used to and Bilbo’s egalitarian and democratic ideas had in the past often clashed with Thorin’s much more conservative and at their core absolutistic ones. Bilbo knew of course that Thorin would never use his power for his own personal gain, but he would put his duty for the kingdom over the life of one dwarf, even the whole crew, including himself and his beloved nephews. Bilbo had on the other hand willingly and knowingly entered into the service of the kingdom of Erebor and more specifically entered into serving as surgeon under Thorin’s captaincy. What right did he have to question his friend and captain now? But even his own rational arguments didn’t help Bilbo against feeling his hackles rising at being reprimanded in this way. For peace’s sake Bilbo swallowed his anger and nodded. 

“I’m … sorry for that as well, captain.” He ground out between his teeth. “I better go now. You don’t need to send Fili down specifically. I’ll see to him once his three hours are up.”

“Very well. Would you be so kind as to send Oin in, if you happen to pass him?” Thorin asked and Bilbo noticed that he sounded a bit more polite than usual, his anger at Bilbo’s behaviour now hidden under a mask of politeness that Thorin mostly used when dealing with difficult diplomatic situations at court. 

“Of course. My pleasure.” Bilbo answered, his voice equally measured and then left the cabin, closing the door behind him very quietly, leaving Thorin sitting quite calmly at his table. However, since ships are not build to be very much soundproof, he did hear the loud thump that shortly followed his exit. It sounded very much like Thorin had crashed his fists down on the table again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not totally convinced with this chapter myself, but rewritting didn't work out as well and I want the story to go on. At least you all now know that Fili is ok! Well, mostly ok. ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear readers. You've probably noticed that this update took a hell of a long time and I'm very sorry for keeping you waiting so long. For reasons I'm not going to bore you with I just couldn't concentrate on writing this story. But, here is the next chapter, which feels a bit choppy to me, but I finally got round to writing again, so here it is. I'm deviating from my original plan of alternating between Fili's and Bilbo's POV from chapter to chapter, because the story was at a point where I needed Bilbo's POV to progress. So there's just a bit of Fili and then Bilbo comes along. Next chapter will start with him, too. But Fili will have his moments in the sun again. :)
> 
> Well, long notes short, here we go with the next chapter.  
> Un-betaed, so if you find mistakes of any kind, tell me please!
> 
> Bell Pattern:
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
Despite having claimed that he felt fit for work again, Fili felt completely knackered after his three hours were up. He had woken up in the morning without a headache, feeling hungry and quite alert, but it had not taken long for a dull throb to develop at the back of his head and for a bit of queasiness to set in. Cursing his own bad luck to be hit on the head, Fili took a few deep breaths and then proceeded to talk with Dori and Balin about the new foreyard and how they were going to replace it without cutting to many of the lines. The queasiness subsided again after a while, but the headache stayed with Fili. Gritting his teeth he kept working till his time was up, dawdled for a few more minutes and then slowly made his way below deck to search for the doctor as he had promised. When he stepped into the sickbay, Bilbo was already waiting for him and he wasn’t wearing his usual smile. Trying to look casual Fili walked over to the waiting doctor, stumbled over his own feet and with a yelp of pain clutched his head as he scrambled to stay upright. 

“Well, so you’re feeling healthy enough to work again, do you?” Bilbo asked with sarcasm colouring his voice, as Fili made the last few steps over to him rather gingerly. Fili knew there was absolutely no use in pretending and sat down on the indicated chair with a groan. 

“It was ok this morning. And the captain needs me.” he said, breathing in a measured way as Bilbo gently parted his hair to look at the still visible bump on the back of his head.  
The hobbit stepped round Fili and peered into his eyes, then took his pulse and shock his head with a grim expression. “The captain would do well to remember that I don’t give recommendations because I think you all need some slack. And you too. I hear you asked Thorin yourself to be allowed to work today. And quite unnecessarily, too.” Bilbo gave Fili a very stern look as the dwarf protested.

“I’m the first lieutenant. It was necessary.” he said and watched Bilbo rummage around in his medicine bag. 

“Oh please, do you think I’m stupid?” Bilbo said as he turned around with a small pouch in his hand. “I spoke to Balin yesterday when you were still in bed and he says the repairs are going smoothly. I hardly think that when you watch the carpenters they work any faster as if they are when Balin is watching them. He’s got more experience in these matters anyways.”

Fili opened his mouth to protest but he caught the look Bilbo gave him and knew that arguing wouldn’t help him now. The hobbit had got it right and he knew it and trying to convince him otherwise would not only be futile but also anger him. Defeated, Fili gave a small sigh. 

“You’re right. I probably should have stayed in bed. My head hurts somewhat fiercely. But I’ve never seen a refit at sea before, not of these proportions and I wanted to be around to learn. As you say, Balin has a lot of experience and watching him and Dori is really an education. I might need knowledge like this someday. If I ever get my own command….” Fili ended with a wistful sigh. Even though he was in direct line to the throne, that didn’t mean he was guaranteed his own command. On the contrary, he was sure that he would have to be twice as good to stand a chance to ever be promoted to captain. His own grandfather Thrain had quickly passed up to lieutenant and then served for years without a promotion. After years of disappointed hope he had finally withdrawn from the service and devoted himself to the diplomatic corps of Erebor, something that he was very good in and thrived at, till suddenly his nerves started to fray and he had to withdraw from this work as well. Nowadays Thrain kept to his own private quarters, on good days he ventured out for walks in the smithies but never without a small escort of guards and physicians. Fili knew that some people called his grandfather’s sickness the curse of the Durin’s and sometimes the thought sat heavy on his own mind that he himself might succumb to it as well. But it wasn’t something to dwell on. 

Bilbo interrupted his gloomy thoughts. “Well, no chance of getting your own command if you kill yourself first.” He said sternly, while preparing a cup for the medicine he apparently wanted to give Fili. 

Fili smiled. “I don’t think I would die from a headache.” He said and Bilbo squinted his eyes at him. “No, but your angry doctor might strike you down, so please try and listen to my advice this time. You’ll drink this…” Bilbo indicated the cup he was stirring a few pinches of white powder into “…it’ll help with the pain. Although I actually think you deserve the headache you have now. Anyways, you’ll sleep then and I now order two more days of rest.”

Fili was about to protest, but Bilbo cut across him. “No, don’t argue. I have argued enough with you Durin’s today. One more word out of you and I’ll make it three days. I’m sure that this time your uncle will listen to my recommendation. And now drink.”

Bilbo held the cup out to Fili who took it without protest and drowned the contents in one long draught. It tasted bitter and the last dregs were so nasty that Fili had to swallow repeatedly afterwards to keep the liquid down. “Why does all your medicine always taste so awful?” Fili asked and made a face at Bilbo who just gave him an exasperated look. 

“You’re a grown dwarf, I think you can deal with a bit of awfulness. Now shoo. And I don’t want to see your face above deck today, or tomorrow.” Bilbo said as he took the cup back from Fili. Slowly, so as not to jostle his head more than necessary, Fili made his way to his cabin and then sank down on his hammock with a grateful sigh. He just got round to wriggle out of his boots and then was fast asleep. 

Waking up in total darkness many hours later, Fili needed a few moments to remember where he was. He had dreamed he was in Erebor, he had been a dwarfling again and his father was still there. Fili couldn’t remember very much of the dream, but the sound of his father’s laughter was with him when he woke up. Blinking a few times to get his head straight, Fili finally sat up in his hammock. His head felt ok, but he knew Bilbo would be very angry if he ventured out of his cabin, so he just had a drink of water from the flask hanging on the wall and then lay back, listening to the sound of the bell and drifting off to sleep again. 

Obeying Bilbo’s command of rest was at first a bit hard on Fili, there was nothing for him to do in his small cabin and the air was getting increasingly stuffy with him being cooped up there so long but he was in the way almost everywhere else on the ship and he didn’t want to draw any more attention to the fact that he wasn’t working than was necessary. It just didn’t look too good that the first lieutenant was lying abed with a headache when the ship needed everybody’s hands to get back in fighting condition. Of course Bilbo was right, Fili could hardly do more than supervise the work of the carpenters and make strategic plans with the captain, but doing nothing at all felt completely wrong. Fili’s only distraction were the frequent visits by a still very worried Kili, who took the appointment as his nurse even more to heart now. Fili was sure that Bilbo had had a hand in this, he’d probably told Kili that his brother needed supervision and Kili took on his task with his usual exuberance. Which meant that he looked in on Fili almost every second bell, except when he was on duty, then Gimli was there as his substitute. Kili brought food and drink, he sat and read from a book he had lent from Bilbo and gave Fili brief reports about the progress of the repairs. Actually it was kind of nice, being pampered like this, and since it was only to be for a short time Fili complied with Bilbo’s wishes, lay abed most of the time and tried to sleep as much as possible. 

When the two more days of rest were up, Fili went to see Bilbo, who checked him over again and grudgingly declared him fit for duty again. “But please don’t overexert yourself now.” Bilbo told him and Fili promised to try and do as little as possible. Which turned out to be quite easy, the repairs were now well under way and all Fili could do was watch. He did spend some time with Thorin, going over their last battle again and trying to work on tactics. Usually Fili liked spending time with his uncle and tactics was a topic both of them found very interesting, but somehow Thorin was in a strange and uncommunicative mood and this diminished the fun Fili would otherwise definitely have had. Fili couldn’t quite pinpoint why Thorin was so grumpy, of course the lost fight and having to turn tail could be the reason for his moodiness. But in that case he would have talked more about the enemy ship instead of brooding silently. Others seemed to be affected by the captain’s sullenness as well, Fili noticed. Oin was even more cantankerous than usual and Bilbo, who was almost always a silent guest in the great cabin now spent most of his time either in sickbay, his own small cabin or walking round in circles on the poop deck where he was not so much in the way as everywhere else. Worrying about his uncle’s peace of mind, Fili finally searched out Bilbo.

The hobbit was sitting on a small canvas chair, a book in his lap forgotten while he leaned against the rail and looked out over the blue sea with a thoughtful expression. “Good day, Dr Baggins!” Fili greeted him and Bilbo gave a small start but then smiled up at Fili under his broad rimmed hat. 

“Why, hello Fili.” He answered. “How’s the head doing?”

Fili unconsciously touched the back of his head and then shrugged as he noticed. “Quite alright, thank you. Slight headache sometimes, but that could also be caused by Kili, he’s trying to keep an eye on me it seems and is watching my every move. It’s like being followed by a puppy who’s trying to be sneaky about it but fails rather miserably.”

Bilbo smiled a bit ruefully. “I think that is probably my fault. I told him to look after you when you were incapacitated. He seems to think that I meant you need supervision all the time now. I should probably call the puppy off.”

“I’d be most grateful if you did.” Fili said with a grin and leaned against the rail. “I…wanted to ask you something, if you wouldn’t mind?” he said cautiously. As first lieutenant he needed to have an eye on the captain and his behaviour but he felt uncomfortable discussing his uncle with other people. It felt strangely like betrayal, even if it was in the best of interest and he only talked with Bilbo, who was his uncle’s best friend.

“Ask away dear boy.” Bilbo said, shutting his book and turning his whole attention to Fili. 

“It’s about Thorin.” Fili began and he thought for a moment that Bilbo looked uncomfortable. But the moment passed and Bilbo just smiled at him in a questioning sort of way and Fili continued. “He’s been rather moody of late, I think you have noticed that, too? But he doesn’t say anything, not to me at least. It’s not like him to be this way. I mean, I know that he can hold a grudge, but this is different.”

Bilbo sighed and looked down on his book, stroking one hand over the leather cover like he wanted to straighten it. Then he looked up again. “I have noticed your uncle’s mood of course. I’m not certain what brought it about but I have an inkling and I promise I will look into it.”

Fili gave Bilbo a very relieved smile and the hobbit smiled back, albeit wanly. It was a bit unfair to set Bilbo the task of cheering Thorin up, but Fili could think of no one better than Bilbo to brighten his uncle’s mood. He could hardly remember a time when Bilbo had not been his uncle’s best friend and favourite companion and at some point Fili had even entertained hopes that his uncle might harbour more than just friendly feelings for the hobbit. Technically dwarves came in male or female form, but since there hardly was any difference between the sexes, indeed even dwarves couldn’t always tell if another dwarf was male or female, it wasn’t uncommon among them to form relationships where both partners belonged to the same sex. A hobbit was of course totally different from a dwarf in more ways than Fili could count, but his uncle was obviously so attached to Bilbo that this didn’t seem to be a problem. But despite the way Thorin sometimes seemed to look at the small hobbit with a bit more than just friendly love, in all the years that Fili had known Bilbo Thorin had not once said or actually done anything that really indicated more than just friendly feelings. Nowadays Fili put his childish hopes of a hobbit consort for his uncle down as the romantic dream of a teenager, who saw love everywhere he looked, but the fact remained that nobody in the world knew his uncle better than Bilbo and if somebody could talk him out of a sulk than it was the hobbit. 

+++

Bilbo didn’t like to put off unpleasant tasks and so he went to knock on Thorin’s door right after he had fulfilled his duty of looking at all his patients. Even on a relatively small ship like the Orcrist it was possible to avoid seeing someone more than necessary and after their little fight Bilbo had done his best to not meet with Thorin on his own. Since he had patients to care for he could just stay in the sickbay without even being suspicious, which had the added bonus that Thorin hardly ever came there. But now he had to face his friend and apologize again. He just hoped he wouldn’t start to fight again. 

The rather tentative knock on the cabin door was answered with Thorin’s usual loud “Enter!” and so Bilbo stepped in. It was a relatively warm day and so the large windows of the stern were open, letting in a pleasant little breeze into the warm air of the cabin. Thorin was sitting in his shirtsleeves at his small writing desk, hastily scribbling what looked like the ending of a letter and said without looking up “One moment, please.” He signed the paper with a flourish, sanded it and then looked up, for the first time noticing who had entered the cabin. Bilbo didn’t quite know what to expect as a greeting. Thorin was prone to hold on to grudges and so Bilbo was pretty certain that the dwarf would frown at him. But instead Thorin’s face split into a wide smile, that made small wrinkles appear at the corners of his eyes and which in turn caused Bilbo to feel a small flutter in his stomach.

“Bilbo!” Thorin boomed and stood up. “How very nice to see you.” He walked over to Bilbo, standing in front of him and patted him heavily on both shoulders. “Your patients have kept you very busy lately. I hope they are all recovering nicely?” Thorin asked, as Bilbo still hadn’t said a word and kept looking at his friend in surprise.

“Yes, thank you. I’ve just been to check on them all and wanted to give you a report on their progress.” Bilbo finally said. He could easily deal with a Thorin that was grumpy or angry or distracted or in his captain mood, but this friendly, smiling dwarf before him was a bit of a problem. It always threw him a bit off course when Thorin was so very nice to him anyways, and since Bilbo had expected to meet a moody captain, he was completely unprepared for the dwarf’s open smile and happy countenance. 

“Oh, splendid. All well then?” Thorin asked and let go of Bilbo’s shoulders again. Despite the warmth of the day Bilbo was a bit sad about that. But he rallied quickly. “Yes, all well and improving.” He said.

“That’s good news, I’m glad to hear about it. Come, have a seat and a cup of coffee, Oin just brought a fresh pot.” Thorin indicated a seat at the table, which was again cluttered with sea charts and papers, compass and straight-edge lying next to the magnifying glass. Bilbo sat and looked at his friend, plucking up his courage. He had come to apologise and apologise he would. “Thorin, I also came to beg your forgiveness. I was disrespectful and I said some things I shouldn’t have. Would you grant me an apology?”

“But my dear Bilbo! All forgiven and forgotten. Please don’t talk about it anymore.” Thorin said firmly and smiled again and Bilbo had no other choice but give in. He would have liked to really talk this through but Thorin didn’t seem to want to, so he had to let it go. Bilbo could always stand up to a raging Thorin, but he caved in front of his smile. “Oh alright.”

“Here, let me show you something.” Thorin said, sounding rather excited and started rifling through the heap of sea charts, carelessly throwing those aside that were in his way. Finally he came upon a chart and a sheet of paper he had obviously searched for and he laid them out on top of the other, smoothing the paper down till it lay flat. Bilbo stood next to him, looking at the chart and immediately recognized the shape of the Shell Islands. He had almost forgotten about them by now. There had been so much else to do, that he had simply not had time to entertain the thought of actually visiting those fantastic islands, but the wish returned with the same burning intensity, when he now lay eyes upon their drawn image again. 

“Ízunmurkh Azahyiüzidîn.”* Thorin said, with deep satisfaction in his voice and Bilbo smiled. He liked to hear Thorin speak Khuzdul, the strange guttural language pleasantly rough in Bilbo’s ears. He himself spoke only a few words, things he had picked up during his time on the Orcrist. Even when they were on their own, most dwarves spoke Westron nowadays, not only was the lingua franca of middleearth much easier to speak and learn than the complicated Khuzdul, it also allowed quicker and more precise exchanges, which was vital on a war ship. And for many essential terms of nautical nature there simply did not exist Khuzdul terms. The dwarves had turned to the seas long after the races of men and elves and when they did, they simply adopted much of the already existing nautical practice, along with the terms and language. While at home in Erebor or the other dwarfkingdoms the dwarves might use their own language, in the Navy everybody used Westron all the time. So to Bilbo’s immense disappointment the dwarves around him hardly ever used their own language, and if they did it was usually for names of places or things that didn’t have an equivalent Westron. 

“Yes!” Bilbo exclaimed happily. “We’ve talked about them a while ago. What a fantastical place.” He looked at the chart fondly, his imagination giving colour to the simple outline, filling it with beasts and birds and plants. 

“Yes, we did. And on our current course we will arrive there in about a weeks time, presuming that the weather holds.” Thorin told Bilbo and then looked at him expectantly. When Bilbo said nothing, just kept looking at the map with a faraway look on his face, Thorin continued. “Since we will be stopping there to refresh our water supplies, I assume you might want to use the time to land and have a bit of a look around. So you better start planning your landing party, what kind of equipment you’ll need, that sort of thing.” 

Somehow the words filtered through to Bilbo and he raised his head, looking at Thorin with wide eyes. “Are you really telling me, that I will actually be able to step on the Shell Islands, to spend time there, study the flora and fauna, even collect a few specimen?!” 

Thorin nodded and then started to laugh as Bilbo’s face light up like it had it’s own private sunrise. “Yes, that is indeed what I am telling you my dear doctor. We have to search for our enemy around the little copses there, so I can promise you a stop of at least a few days. You’ll have enough time for a good look around.” He said as Bilbo almost hopped up and down like a child in face of solstice presents. “Oh, this is so very exciting!” Bilbo exclaimed.

“Well, I’m glad to see you so happy.” Thorin said and if Bilbo had cared to look at him he would have seen the gentle smile that touched Thorin’s lips, softening his face. But as Bilbo finally could take his eyes from the map the look of tender affection and longing had disappeared and Thorin was again just contemplating the map, just as Bilbo had been doing. In his excitement about the goal of so many of his dreams almost within grasp Bilbo had completely forgotten about the reason for their journey to such a far away place, but seeing the much more sombre expression Thorin was wearing when he studied the chart he was reminded of it with a pang of guilt. Thorin had so much on his mind, the care for the ship and the crew was a heavy burden for any captain but being heir to the throne Thorin also had to worry about a whole kingdom. 

“I am. I told you, it’s the dream of every naturalist to go there and I’m sure you can imagine what a wealth of discoveries can be made there. Well, maybe not, because even I can’t really imagine. Oh, I am really so very excited now. I think I will not be able to sleep till we arrive.” 

Thorin chuckled again and then started clearing the table, organising the maps and charts in their order and folding them up. Bilbo helped and together they made quick work of the messy table. Having successfully put order in his maps, Thorin looked quite pleased, standing with his hands on his hips. “Well, that’s that then. Not much to do till we arrive.”

Bilbo nodded along. “You’re done with all the repairs, I gather?” he asked, glad that he was back to talking with his friend. 

“Mostly. So, I’ve been meaning to ask you, would you want to play a bit of music tonight? Of course, only if your patients don’t need you.” Thorin had walked over to the cupboard that held his music notes and pulled some out. Curious what he had picked out, Bilbo followed him. “With great pleasure. I think my fingers are getting more clumsy with each day, so a bit of practice would do me good. And I’ve got no critical patients at the moment, Bildr can easily handle them for a few hours.”  
The smile spreading over Thorin’s face made Bilbo’s heart beat faster. “Wonderful. Well, my dear doctor, I’ll be seeing you later then. You will have to excuse me now, I need to have a word with the carpenter, he wants to show me something in the hold.”  
Bilbo followed Thorin outside of the great cabin and then hurried to his own, his head full of plans for his trip to the Shell Islands, making lists of things he was going to need. 

He spent the next week in happy anticipation, preparing for his expedition by reading up every bit of information he has been able to gather about the Shell Islands, which wasn’t much and starting to build a few small cages for the live specimen he was planning to collect. Even though Bilbo busied himself time still seems to crawl and then the wind let up for a few days, slowing their progress down to a crawl, which not only annoyed Thorin for obvious reasons but made Bilbo quite cross as well. And then, on a bright morning, with a sky so cloudless and bright blue it almost had the colour of Thorin’s eyes, they caught sight of the Shell Islands for the first time. Appearing out of the mist over the horizon Bilbo was quite sure he had never in his life seen anything this beautiful. Well, apart maybe from Thorin’s smile but he pushed that thought down again quickly. Now was not the time to meditate on Thorin’s smile, actually he should never do that, because it was a useless exercise and only made him sad in the end. But with the Shell Islands so close, Bilbo found it easy for once to not dwell on his one sided feelings and he prepared for his expedition with zeal.

But in the time it had taken Bilbo to disappear below deck and change into his expedition outfit, thin clothes in light colours to ease the sun’s heat and including a broad rimed hat against it’s fierce glare, the situation on deck had changed. First spotted by the sharp eyes of young Nyr Billigson, a small boat was now coming closer to the Orcrist, it’s occupants shouting and waving. Canvas had already been reduced to slow the progress of the ship down and allow for the boat or better it’s passengers to be picked up. Bilbo watched the procedure with a bit of impatience. He was eager to get to the islands and every delay was annoying to him but the people in the small boat were obviously in distress, had probably been shipwrecked and it was their moral duty to help them. As the boat came closer Bilbo could see that the people in it were dwarves and that they looked like merchants. This was confirmed when the dwarves had been taken aboard and questioned. 

Since Bilbo wasn’t actually part of the command crew, he didn’t follow when Balin, Fili, Dwalin and a few others accompanied the small group of strange dwarves to the great cabin to talk with Thorin. Instead he paced the quarter deck for a while and then went below to his cabin again, to check on the little pile of things he was planning to take on land, making sure everything was packed safely. He was so immersed in his excited preparation that he hardly paid attention to the commotion starting over his head and his only fleeting thought was that they were getting in close range of the islands now and that the sailors were probably staring to prepare for the landing parties. When he came back up after maybe half an hour he was confused to see that the horizon had changed. And not because they had come closer to the coastline as he had thought, no. The Orcrist had obviously changed course and was now sailing parallel to the islands and by the look of things away from their planned landing spot. But surely this could not be. Thorin had said Bilbo would be able to go on land. He had promised it. 

Confused Bilbo looked around, searching for Thorin but couldn’t find him. Neither could he see Fili or Balin, but Gimli was standing next to the wheel, obviously the mid on duty now. Bilbo walked over to him and asked, not even caring to answer the greeting the young dwarf offered him “Gimli, what’s happening, have we changed course?”

“Urm, yes, Doctor Baggins. The captain ordered it half an hour ago. Were you not on deck, Sir?” Gimli looked at Bilbo, apparently surprised by the hobbits agitation. 

“No, I was below, preparing for the excursion. Gimli, I don’t understand, why have we changed course, are we going to land in a different spot? Where are we landing? And when? I thought I would be on land in a few hours.” Bilbo was wringing his hands, causing a look of worry to appear on Gimli’s good natured face. 

“Maybe you should speak to the captain?” he offered kindly, patting Bilbo on the shoulder in what was surely meant to be a calming and comforting gesture but what for Bilbo felt like somebody was beating him with a wooden board. Especially the younger dwarves sometimes forgot that Bilbo might look like a slightly smaller, beardless dwarf, but that he wasn’t near as sturdy as them. Gimli, who was exceptionally strong and broad for his age and also sported a luxurious beard for which his older cousin Kili envied him to no end, never got the hang of toning his friendly gestures down. Wincing slightly, Bilbo thanked Gimli and left the young dwarf standing at the wheel.

Bilbo was a bit clumsy around the ship on good days, but now he almost broke his neck in his hurry to get below and see Thorin. He banged on the door of the cabin and was through it in the same moment Thorin bade him to enter. “Thorin what is happening, why have we changed course? Are we not landing in that little cove, like we had planned? This throws my plans around a bit, I can tell you. I wanted to cross that island on it’s most narrow place.”Bilbo said rather breathlessly. The look on Thorin’s face made him pause however. 

“Thorin?” he asked, breaking his own flow of words. “What…what is happening?”

It was probably a mark of their friendship that Thorin looked deeply uncomfortable, when he told Bilbo that they had changed course for good and would not be landing on the Shell Islands, but sail past them in pursuit of their mystery enemy. The shipwrecked dwarves they had taken aboard this morning had belonged to the crew of a merchant ship that had been looted and then sunk a few miles further by the mysterious black ship only two days ago. The black ship, for which they now had conformation that it was handled by orcs, who had killed almost all of the dwarven crew, had then sailed on westwards past the Shell Islands, following another merchant ship sailing on that course. 

“But…but Thorin! My exploration!” Bilbo exclaimed horrified, realising that the opportunity to visit the dream destination of all leading naturalists was being snatched away from under his nose. It was literally sailing past him this very moment. 

Thorin looked grave. “My dear Bilbo, I’m sorry to have to tell you, but we are not going to land. We must pursue, they have already two days on us and delay is not tolerable.” 

“But you said we need to land anyways! We have to restock our freshwater and I could go on land while we restock, just make the minimum observations …” Bilbo felt his throat tighten, making his voice sound squeaky. The look of compassion on Thorin’s face made the disappointment that was starting to well up even harder to bare.

“The freshwater springs on the Ízunmurkh Azahyiüzidîn are too far inland. We would lose too much time to restock there. When I thought we had to look around the islands anyways that was no problem but now we know where the enemy is, we have to give chase. We will stock up our freshwater on one of the islands on the way.” Thorin’s voice was gentle, trying to make Bilbo understand his situation but all Bilbo could see was that he had been so close to fulfilling a dream of his and that it wasn’t going to happen now.

“But Thorin! You promised me….” He began. The dwarf interrupted him. He still looked sorry, but his voice had taken on a slight hint of impatience.“As I said, Bilbo, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but the requirements of the service demand I make chase.”

Bilbo had heard this one argument far too often “Requirements of the service!” he exclaimed, very agitated now. “That is what you always say. But aren’t we as well required to explore? To gain new insights? Making discoveries that advance our knowledge of natural history…” breathing deeply to try and calm himself down a bit more Bilbo paused for a moment. Thorin’s face did not give him any hope for succeeding with his appeal, but go on he had to. “Surely you must see that this outranks the requirements of the service?!”

The dwarf had been shaking his head for half of Bilbo’s speech already and now he gave the rejection in words as well. “If we had a chance to restock quickly on the Shell Islands I should have said yes, but we don’t so I’m obliged to say no.” Thorin’s voice had lost its gentleness now, a businesslike tone emphasizing his edgy movements as he swept around the cabin, looking for sea charts while getting dressed in his uniform. 

Feeling almost faint with disappointment, Bilbo breathed through his nose, trying and failing to calm his heartbeat. This had been it. His chance to see the Shell Islands, his chance to see wonders he had dreamed about for so long, his chance to discover invaluable knowledge. And because of Thorin’s unreasonable persistence he was forced to give it up. The hobbit swallowed heavily. “I see. So after all this time in your service I must simply content myself to form part of this belligerent expedition, hurry past inestimable wonders, bent solely on destruction…I shall say nothing about the corruption of power…” Bilbo had talked himself into a bit of an agitated state now, his voice rising with his anger. 

“You forget yourself, Doctor.” Thorin interrupted, his tones clipped. Shaking his head Bilbo retorted “No Thorin! No. You’ve forgotten yourself. I myself look upon a promise as binding.” 

Angrily Thorin thumped his fist upon the table he had been leaning over and then stood straight, glowering at Bilbo “The promise was conditional!” he growled. Both of them were now shouting above each other, neither understanding a word of what the other said until Thorin cried out “We do not have time for your damned hobbies, sir.”

Bilbo fell silent immediately, as did Thorin. They were facing each other, Thorin now rather red in the face while Bilbo knew he himself had gone pale. His lips were twitching, he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Thorin’s face was set in hard lines of anger and dislike, patches of red burning on his cheeks and Bilbo knew, there actually was nothing more for him to say. With an incline of his head, that could have been anything, from a nod to a bow of surrender he turned and walked from the cabin. It took all his strength not to bang the door shut behind him, but Bilbo managed it. From the cabin did not come the sound of rage, that Bilbo had expected to ring out now that he had gone, only a silence that was somehow much harder to bare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some dialog taken from the movie "Master and Commander".
> 
> I think said in a comment somewhere that Fili doesn't suspect anything about possible feelings between Bilbo and Thorin, but I changed my mind. :P It did suddenly seem fitting that he does. :)
> 
> *=The Ízunmurkh Azahyiüzidîn are my AU’s version of the Galapagos Islands, with Ízunmurkh meaning shell and Azahyiüzidîn meaning islands. Since the khuzdul name is quite a mouthful, I think they’ll be referred to as Shell Islands most of the time, but I just love me a bit of khuzdul so the name will probably occasionally pop up in the dwarfish language as well. The Khuzdul comes from the wonderful “dwarrowscholar” and any mistakes in the translation are totally mine.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well would you look at that, I actually managed to finish the chapter and it's up after only two weeks! Huzzah!
> 
> This starts with Bilbo's POV and switches to Fili's. I'm just messing with my whole system now but whatever. The story seemed to demand it. Hope you like it.  
> Unbeta'ed, if you find mistakes let me know.
> 
> *TRIGGER WARNING*  
> Mentioning of bullying. No actual description, but the subject and it's effects are mentioned.
> 
> And the ever trusted bell pattern.
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
Watching the Shell Islands slowly disappear in the mist that arose on the horizon as the day grew on, was almost as painful for Bilbo as dwelling on the fight with Thorin. Maybe it would have been easier for him if he had just stayed in his cabin and waited till they were well out of sight of the craggy rocks marking the coastline. But with a perverse stubbornness Bilbo had persuaded Balin to let down a small boat to trail behind the ship and from there at least tried to catch some interesting fish, while watching the haze cloak the Shell Islands in its grey embrace. The added bonus of sitting in the small boat was that he was for now out of sight of Thorin. The thought of looking into his eyes and seeing that look… 

Bilbo swallowed drily and blinked away some tears. It wasn’t because he had thought of the way Thorin’s voice had sounded, just the sun blinding him. Yes, that was it.

Hurling in his bow net, Bilbo saw with a sigh that he had not caught anything of interest. At least not of interest to a naturalist. Oin was probably going to be happy about the fresh fish and fry it up nicely for dinner. Only, Bilbo couldn’t actually ask Oin to fry the fish for him. He was the captain’s steward and only catered for Bilbo by extension. Well, Bilbo could still fry the fish up for himself and Bildr on the stove in the galley. But somehow he couldn’t face the idea of eating, let alone cooking, so instead of putting the fish in the small bucket he had taken along, he tipped the contents of his net over the side of his boat and then threw the net out again, determined to stay in his hiding place as long as he could. It wasn’t like it was a really good hiding place. Bilbo had on many occasions in the past trailed behind the ship in the small boat to try and catch some sea dwelling animals. Thorin had even joined him once, quite a memorable time, because Thorin had decided to go swimming at one point. It wasn’t unusual for Thorin to go for a swim, he was a famously good swimmer and had saved more than one sailor from drowning. It wasn’t even that unusual for the crew to throw a large piece of canvas over the side, fastened to the ship in such a clever way that it formed a small pool, which allowed a bit of refreshing splashing around for everybody that couldn’t swim.

It had however been unusual for Bilbo to be in so close proximity to Thorin when he decided to go for a little dip. He always absented himself from deck when Thorin went for a swim, because he didn’t trust himself with his looks when the dwarf shed his clothes, all his clothes for that matter and then jumped over the side of the ship. He did trust himself even less when Thorin would climb back on deck dripping with water and accepting a towel from Oin to first dry his hair. He’d seen that once and it hadn’t been good for his psyche. 

On the memorable day that Thorin had decided to sit with Bilbo in his boat and then decided he wanted a swim, the only thing Bilbo could do was bashfully avert his eyes when the dwarf stripped and then jumped off the little boat they had been sharing. It had been a lovely day and the memory of Thorin smiling, as he swam around the boat, rocking the sides and joking about throwing Bilbo in, the glitter of water in his dark hair and beard competing against the amused glitter in his eyes as he laughed. And the whiteness of his pale skin as he elegantly glided through the small waves just under the surface of the water… It was enough to give poor Bilbo a bit of a red face, even when he thought about that day now.

He dawdled away the rest of the afternoon, pushing thoughts of Thorin away when they arose again. Bilbo clambered back on board around three bells in the first dog watch to find a mainly deserted deck. Only Balin was standing at the wheel with Kili and one of the newly transferred mids, Greni Hunin if Bilbo’s memory served correctly and a few sailors were scrubbing the deck. Thorin was nowhere to be seen and Bilbo heaved a relieved sigh. He thanked the sailors that had helped him back on board and that were now heaving the boat back over the side and then shuffled off to sickbay to check on his patients. 

This renewed ice age between Thorin and him weighed heavily on Bilbo’s heart over the next days. He knew it was his own fault in parts, he had been reacting unreasonably emotional and very unprofessional. But he also blamed Thorin. The dwarf was his best friend and still he would put the requirements of the service over a promise made to a friend.

Thorin himself seemed preoccupied and stern again, whenever he and Bilbo came face to face the dwarf was polite but distant. And this time Bilbo didn’t try to talk to him again, he didn’t try to beg forgiveness. Part of him wanted to, but another part was thinking that Thorin was the one who had made the more serious transgression against their friendship 

It was not easy to distract himself, because there wasn’t much for him to do at the moment. His patients had now all recovered enough to leave sick bay and then Bilbo and Bildr cleaned and scrubbed the sick bay as best as they could. They boiled out blood stained linen and bandages, rolling up the ones they could reuse, cutting up the other and then took stock of the medicine they still had. This hardly was enough to keep Bilbo’s mind occupied and so he used the opportunity to teach Bilbr, looking through books of anatomy and discussing what kind of medicine to use for what kinds of ailments. As always Bildr didn’t talk much, but his dark eyes watched Bilbo attentively and he nodded and asked a few very smart questions and all in all Bilbo would have been well satisfied with his time spent in such a useful way, if not the rift with Thorin and the missed opportunity of visiting the Shell Islands had been present in his mind the whole time.

***

Fili was called into the captain’s cabin three days after they had sailed past the Shell Islands to follow their not-so-mysterious-any-more enemy. With the confirmation that the ship was commanded by orcs had come a lot of strategic planning for future engagements with them, drawing much from Dwalin’s and Balin’s experience with this kind of enemy. Orcs hardly ever took prisoners and usually aimed to sink the ships they fought. This was an advantage in a battle. If you didn’t want to capture the ship, you didn’t have to take care with your shots, as long as you hit the target. The dwarves however planned on taking their enemy’s ship and that meant that there was much to think about, apart from preparing to fight them again. Unlike the orcs, the dwarves would take prisoners and orcish prisoners were a big problem. Orcs being rather unclean creatures, they could infest a ship with all kind of pests, spreading diseases among themselves and, much worse, their captors. They were also riotous and fierce fighter, most of them not fearing injury or death and they were sure to try and free themselves. They had to be guarded and kept as clean as possible and also as far away from the majority of the crew to not risk anything. 

All this had been talked about and planned for and Fili had been in the thick of it, listening and learning. He thought his uncle might want to talk about their plans a bit more, so he wasn’t surprised by the summons. He did become surprised however, when he learned why Thorin had actually called him. Fili had entered the cabin, saluted and was now standing to attention with his had tucked under his arm, looking expectantly at his uncle and captain. 

“Lieutenant Durin, I have an assignment for you.” Thorin greeted him and looked at his nephew earnestly. He had been very serious but rather energetic over the last days, but today he looked somewhat tired. 

“Yes, sir?” Fili asked, when his uncle didn’t go on talking.

Blinking, Thorin seemed to resurface from dark thoughts and then smiled thinly. “Yes, your assignment. We’ll be landing on one of the small islands tomorrow to restock our freshwater.” Thorin began and Fili perked up. His uncle was surely going to give him command for the landing party and the restocking, which was not a difficult task, but still one that needed to be done accurately and, in their current situation, swiftly. Granted, it was not like a battle, but Fili was glad for every opportunity to show his leadership skill. 

“Greni Hunin will be leading the landing party, with Kili as his second in command” Thorin went on and Fili sagged inwardly, disappointment sharp after a moment’s hope. Thorin must have noticed the minute changes in Fili’s posture and expression because his smile got warmer “I thought it would be a good opportunity for both of them to show how they deal with some responsibility and in case anything goes wrong Balin is at their side to steer things back into the right direction.”

Fili nodded gravely. Of course his uncle was right. A landing party to restock on freshwater was just the thing to let some mids practice at command, but since their current situation also required everything to go without hitch he had thought his greater experience would have made him the perfect choice for the task. And even though he didn’t want to, Fili felt slightly jealous that his former enemy Greni was given this important task, while he would have to stand by and watch him. 

“But now to your task.” Thorin said and Fili straightened up again. “Dr Baggins has been deprived of the chance to visit the Shell Islands because we had to give chase and since we absolutely do have to land now, I wanted to give him the opportunity to at least land on this small island and have a little bit of a poke around among the plants and animals and whatnot that he can find. It is of course vital that he doesn’t get lost, either on the island or in his thoughts, so I want you to accompany him and make sure he is back on the ship safely when we sail. I dare say 7 hours won’t be enough to satisfy his exploratory desires, but at least he’ll have the chance to wander around a bit, maybe find a new butterfly or bird. Stare at a shrub, maybe. He can do that for hours.”

Fili couldn’t hide a smile at the way Thorin spoke about Bilbo’s forays in botany and zoology with a kind of fond astonishment. Even most of the seafaring dwarves, despite their broader horizon, still felt more at home with rocks and metal than with the living and breathing parts of nature and Bilbo’s enthusiasm for it was beyond most dwarves understanding. 

“Of course, sir.” Fili said, when Thorin paused and seemed to get lost in thought again.

“Ah, yes, so. As I said, I would like you to accompany the doctor, keep him safe and then coax him back to the ship in time for us to sail. I know, it’s not a very prestigious task, but I’m afraid I can’t trust anybody else to actually manage getting him back in time. He can be very stubborn if he wants to be.” Thorin said and Fili had the impression that his uncle almost sighed. But the moment passed and Thorin smiled at Fili. “So, my boy, do you think you are the dwarf for this job?”

Fili smiled back at his uncle, gratified that he realised this was not the kind of thing Fili had hoped to do and at least making the command look like a request that could be denied. Which of course it wasn’t and Fili knew it and he knew Thorin knew he knew it. It was nice nevertheless to have one’s feelings considered. “Of course, sir.” he said firmly and Thorin smiled even more warmly. 

“Thank you, Fili. That is a great weight of my shoulders. I really want Bilbo to have the chance to do a bit of exploring, but I’m also very concerned for his safety. And his punctuality.” This time Thorin did sigh, although in a quietly amused way. “I think you should pick one of the younger mids to accompany you. Bit of an outing never does the little brats harm and he can carry the specimen that Bilbo no doubt will collect.”

Fili nodded. “Yes, sir.” 

“Very well then, Durin, you are dismissed. You can tell Dr Baggins we are landing tomorrow around three bells in the morning watch and he has to be back on board at one bell in the afternoon watch. We’ll sail with the tide at four bells, but don’t tell him, he’s sure to take longer than he should anyways. Just a precaution.” Thorin said and Fili hid a grin. 

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Fili saluted again and left the cabin. He shook his head in a bemused fashion and then made his way to Bilbo’s cabin to tell him of the schedule. The question why his uncle didn’t tell him himself vaguely formed in Fili’s mind, but the captain probably had enough things on his mind at the moment and since Fili was to take care of Bilbo he had to talk this through with him anyways. He was astonished to learn however, that Bilbo not only had not heard of the schedule but was actually unaware that a short landing trip for him had been planned. 

“Your uncle told you what?” Bilbo said, the reading glasses sliding to the front of his nose as he surveyed Fili, who was standing in the door to the hobbit’s small cabin. 

“The captain asked me to tell you about the schedule of the landing tomorrow and to accompany you on your expedition.” Fili told him patiently. 

“I didn’t know about that.” Bilbo said and leaned back in his chair, now taking the reading glasses from his nose and rubbing at the small red patches they had produced on the bridge of his nose. He did look confused and Fili wondered why Thorin had not told Bilbo about this earlier. There were not many islands with fresh water on their route and Thorin must have planned to land on this or the next one ever since they had not landed on the Shell Islands. Their freshwater had been running low three days ago and now it was almost all gone. Well, maybe it had slipped his mind, he had been busy over the last days.

“Well, Dr Baggins, you do now. And there is still time to plan the little trip. We won’t have very much time to spend on the island, but I’m sure we can be on one of the first boats to land and that’ll give us about 7 hours till we have to be back. I assume you won’t need too much equipment for a small expedition? It’ll only be you, me and one of the younger mids, so you will have to restrict yourself in terms of luggage, I’m afraid.” Fili told the hobbit. 

Bilbo, who had been toying with his glasses while Fili talked now put them down carefully on the desk. He did not look as happy as Fili would have thought he’d look at the prospect of going on a little expedition. He was biting his lip thoughtfully, a closed expression on his face.

“Is something the matter, Doctor? I know, it’s just a very short outing, but I’m sure it’ll be worthwhile. There must be some interesting beetles crawling around and plants and such.” Fili tried to cheer the hobbit up.

It seemed to work because Bilbo smiled up at Fili and then got up from his desk. “Yes, yes. I’m sure you’re right. Well, I think I better start to think about what I’m going to take along.” Bilbo stood, his thumbs hooked behind his braces and rocking on the balls of his feet while he was thinking. With another smile, Fili clapped him on the back. „Shall I send Nainn round to wake you up in the morning, Dr Baggins?“ he asked but Bilbo shook his head. “I’ll be on deck at three bells morning watch no problem.” 

“Wonderful.” Fili answered and then withdrew. He searched for Nainn and told him to prepare provisions for his small landing party and then went to his cabin to check his sabre and pistol. They were in top condition but Fili nevertheless took out his cleaning things and sat down at a table in the mess to thoroughly clean the weapons again. As he was polishing the blade of his sabre, a gift from his mother he cherished very much since it had belonged to his father before, Fili thought about the upcoming landing and his own rather boring role in it. There was no question that Bilbo needed somebody to go along with him, but Fili doubted that this task required the skills of a first lieutenant. Of course, Bilbo was dear to his uncle and to Fili himself for that matter, but as much as Fili liked the hobbit he would rather have had the responsibility for restocking than having to babysit the doctor. But he was an officer of his majesty’s navy, he had been given an order by his captain and he would execute it to the best of his abilities. 

The blade was gleaming in the dull light of the lamp and Fili looked it at with some sort of satisfaction, when he heard an odd noise. It sounded like a very low whine and was coming from one of the mids cabins. Now it really wasn’t Fili’s job to look after the mids. Life in the navy wasn’t easy and it was sometimes even tougher on the mids, especially the very young ones who still missed home and their parents. Mothering them however wouldn’t help them in the slightest and so it was common practice to deal with even the small boys like they were grown dwarves, except for giving them lessons and making sure they wrote home and washed occasionally. But whoever was in the cabin sounded very distressed and Fili couldn’t bring himself to ignore this. He knocked on the door and when no answer came he entered nevertheless. 

It was little Nyr Billigson who was making the pitiful noises. He seemed to be locked in the claws of a nightmare, turning fitfully in his hammock and moaning in fear. His face was pale even against his white blond hair and the downy beard on his cheeks and his lips were moving, mumbling something. Fili was about to shake him awake gently when he could make out two words in the muttering: “Greni, no!” Stopping with his hand almost at the small boy’s shoulder Fili took a deep breath to calm the sudden flare of anger that coursed through him. Of course Greni was the reason for the lad’s nightmare. Fili could just imagine the taunts and threats that Greni had whispered into the lad’s ears to scare him. He still heard them himself sometimes in his dreams. And this was part of Greni’s perfidy, he needn’t touch a hair on Nyr’s head, he could just talk and pour poison in his soul. And Fili could do nothing against it. A bit of teasing from the older mids was common and Greni would never openly do more than that. And Nyr would never complain, just like Fili had never complained, even when the other lad had actually hurt him. 

Fili very gently touched Nyr’s shoulder and shock him. The boy almost leapt out of the hammock and Fili was so surprised by the action that he himself gave an involuntary shout and stepped back. Nyr remained completely silent through waking up, although his mouth was gaping open in shock. Clutching his hand to his heart, Fili breathed out with a whistle and leaned against the wall. Nyr, who had shrunk back in fear as well seemed to have woken up enough to recognise Fili.

“Sir! I’m sorry sir.” He stammered, watching Fili with wide eyes. His hair was standing on end, the neat braids coming undone.

“That’s ok, Billigson. You gave me quite a fright but it’s my own fault for waking you up.” Fili said in as calm a voice as he could muster. The boy was breathing heavily, his skinny chest heaving and his bright blue eyes were so round that they were almost falling out of the sockets. Fili wasn’t sure what he should do.

“Billigson, are you alright? Having a nightmare?” he asked softly and Nyr almost immediately shook his head. “No sir. I mean, a bit sir. But I’m ok, sir.” He said, looking as nervous as always when he had to talk with Fili. The young lieutenant held back a sigh. As much as he wanted to help the boy, he didn’t know how. ”If you need to talk about something, you can come to me.” He offered, knowing full well that Nyr wasn’t going to take him up on it. Nyr nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

„Well, then. Carry on.“ Fili said, feeling utterly stupid for sounding like his last captain had, whenever he didn’t know how to talk to Fili and left the cabin. 

He sat down at the table again, polishing his already gleaming sabre. ‘It will only serve to make the boy stronger’, Fili thought, rubbing more weapon oil into the blade. ‘I was the same and I survived.’ But he knew it was wrong, even though things like this were happening all over the fleet, the younger mids being bullied by the older mids, the seasoned sailors taunting the new ship’s boys – Fili hated this. He cursed inwardly and then he had an idea. He couldn’t be openly to kind, but he had just the opportunity at hand to grant Nyr a bit of a holiday. If left on the Orcrist, Greni would surely find a way to do something cruel to the boy while restocking, but Fili had been given the order to take one of the mids along with Bilbo and he would take Nyr. He remembered seeing Bilbo showing the boy some pictures in one of his books, so maybe the small adventure would even be to the boy’s liking. 

“Billigson?” he called and after a moments shuffeling the lad appeared at the cabin door. His hair was already back in shape but he was still very pale. “Yes sir?”

“Billigson, I’ve been meaning to tell you, the captain asked me to accompany Dr Baggins on his expedition during our next landing and I want you to come along as well. The doctor will be needing somebody to carry his things and we’ll also be his guard so please see to your weapons. We’re crossing over to the island as soon as we can, so be on deck three bells morning watch. You’re excused from other duty till then. Might get a bit to eat and then sleep, if I know Dr Baggins we’ll be doing a lot of running around.” Fili told the young dwarf and was rewarded by a tiny, grateful smile.

“Yes sir!” he said and then joined Fili at the table with his own weapons, looking them over and cleaning them. Fili wasn’t surprised to see that both Nyr’s pistol and his sabre were gleaming like new, which on reflexion they probably were, him being the first sailor in the family. They sat in companionable silence, only broken by their steward Nainn, who stuck in his head and asked if they required anything. Nyr, who didn’t seem to be comfortable with ordering the older dwarf around, shock his head but Fili told the steward to prepare something to eat for Nyr and himself now, since they would probably already be sleeping when their mess assembled later. Nyr gave Fili another grateful look and then shyly showed him his pistol case, which apparently his older sister had made for him as a farewell present. Fili duly admired the metal inlay in the casing and Nyr didn’t seem so very nervous any more. 

‘You’re doing a good thing.’ Fili told himself, when he got into his hammock later. ‘The landing won’t do anything to further your career, but you’re doing something good.’ With that thought he fell asleep and slept soundly till Nainn shock him awake at one bell in the morning watch.

Fili quickly washed and dressed and when he emerged from his cabin met a shiny eyed Nyr already at the table and tucking in a bowl of gruel with great gusto. He joined the lad and then they took the provisions Nainn had left packed at the table and went on deck together. The sun was just rising, painting the horizon orange and pink and if Ori had been around he would probably have sighed deeply and said something about nature’s fine colour palette. Since he wasn’t, nobody really paid the beautiful sky any notice. 

Bilbo bounded on deck not much after Fili and Nyr, looking very adventurous in his flowery vest, linen coat and straw hat. He came over to Fili and Nyr, who were standing out of the way of the bustling dwarves, loading the boats with empty water barrels and preparing everything for the landing. “Morning, Dr Baggins.” Fili greeted the hobbit and Nyr next to him saluted smartly. “Good morning! Lieutenant Durin. Billigson.” Bilbo nodded at the boy and smiled. „I say, Billigson, would you be so kind as to help me with my equipment?“  
Nyr nodded eagerly and they both disappeared under deck again, only to reappear laden down with bags and small wooden cages a while later. Fili gave them a dubious smile, ‘How are we ever going to walk with all that?’ but Nyr and Bilbo proceeded to distribute everything among themselves. They each had a somewhat larger circumference in the end, but could still walk with enough ease and Nyr looked happy, so Fili didn’t say a word. They could always leave some of the cages behind and they would use up food and drink so their provisions wouldn’t weigh them down for long.

When Thorin appeared on deck the bustling got a bit busier but also quieter. Fili noticed that his uncle and Bilbo only nodded at each other and didn’t give any indication of wanting to talk. This was strange, they always exchanged a few words when possible and now would have been the perfect moment, none of them being actually occupied with anything. But they both ignored each other after their curt acknowledgement and Fili wondered if they had been in a fight. Nyr however benefitted from this because Bilbo engaged him in conversation and the boy visibly perked up at that. 

The hobbit and his two dwarf companions got into the third boat that was setting off to the island. As Nyr ungainly clambered on board, the cages and bags hindering him, Fili heard a quiet, unpleasant snicker and turned round to see Greni Hunin standing next to the boat, sneering at the other mid. Fili gave a small cough and when Greni looked at him, gave him a stern, level look. Greni looked back and then down, finally turning round and walking away. But Nyr had obviously noticed at least the snicker, because his cheeks were red and he did look rather unhappy again. Bilbo, who hadn’t noticed anything, tapped the boy on the shoulder and pointed at the island in the distance and Nyr gave a small smile and tried to explain to the doctor why they were certainly not landing where Bilbo had just pointed out, even if it seemed to be in direct line to their current position. Taking the mid along had definitely been a good idea, Fili told himself. 

They hit the beach 20 minutes later and got out of the boat. Fili waved to Kili, who was organising the troops on the island and then shoed Bilbo and Nyr to the side so that they would not be in the way. “Alright, Dr Baggins, Billigson, let us not dawdle. We have to be back at this point by one bell afternoon watch.”  
Bilbo took out his pocket watch and rewound it. Then he pocketed it again, thought for a moment and got it out again, handing it to Fili. “I think it would be best if you had my watch. I know you can probably tell the time by the sun, but just to be on the safe side.” Bilbo smiled and Fili smiled while he pocketed the watch and Nyr almost smiled and then they all set off together. 

Being still early the air was cool but Fili could tell it was going to be a rather warm day. They should make a bit of way as long as it was still cool and since the noise of the other landing party had chased off animals and birds, they would have to walk a bit anyways to find something for Bilbo to explore. The hobbit did occasionally stop to look at a plant, but seemed to find nothing out of the ordinary. He did look quite happy while walking anyways and Nyr as well. Fili kept behind them, watching the surroundings and making sure he kept note of how long and where they were walking so that they would find their way back in time. The noises from the beach and the dwarves labouring there soon died away because Fili had made sure they were not walking in the direction of the little spring where the freshwater was restocked. 

Two hours later Bilbo suddenly stopped. He had stopped half an hour before to look closer at a plant and make a quick drawing of it, jot down a few notes and then taking a few leaves to press, but now his stopping was more urgent. His hand went out, catching Nyr in the chest and halting him in his step in the same moment he whispered “Quiet!” and then ducked down slowly. Fili stopped behind the two, slowly sinking down as well. He wasn’t sure what Bilbo had seen, but he waited patiently till Bilbo quietly breathed “Over there by that rock.”  
And sure enough, a very large iguana pocked it’s head over the top of the rock and then slowly clambered over it, it’s tongue flicking out as it turned it’s head here and there. With it’s large scaly body, spiked back, short legs and oddly shaped face, Fili had hardly ever seen something this ugly, but Bilbo’s face was light like he was looking at the most precious gems in the whole kingdom. It did remind Fili of the way Bilbo sometimes looked at his uncle and the thought almost made him snicker. The bad tempered look on the iguana’s face and his uncle’s grumpy expression certainly bore some resemblance, even though the animal was lacking in facial hair, or any hair for that matter.

“Oh, isn’t he beautiful!” Bilbo sighed quietly and crept forward. Fili gave Nyr a look under raised eyebrows which made the boy grin and then they both carefully followed the hobbit. The iguana seemed to have noticed their approach, but it just sat there, looking at them and doing nothing. It was pretty large and the claws on it’s feet did look like they could do some damage, so Fili told Nyr to stay back. “Doctor, please be very careful.” he warned Bilbo since he couldn’t tell him to keep his distance. “Yesyes.” the hobbit answered distractedly and crept closer to the animal. At least he didn’t stick his fingers out. The iguana just sat on it’s rock, blinking it’s eyes slowly and then yawned, showing sharp teeth. But it didn’t show any aggression and Fili relaxed a little. “It’s a shame he is so big, I would love to take him back to the ship.” Bilbo said, watching the animal with a look of rapture. They were obviously going to stay here for a while.

“Urm, yes, real shame. But I think it would not be advisable to take it along.” Fili said cautiously and sat down on a fallen tree. More than once in the past had Bilbo taken rather large, live animals on board, which had all caused chaos and then had to either be deposed of somewhere safe, died or actually had to be killed. All this always distressed Bilbo and Fili wanted very much to nip this in the bud. He shuddered to think what a bloody big iguana like that, with sharp teeth and a grumpy disposition, could do in the narrow confines of a ship. 

“You are probably right.” Bilbo said regretfully as he took out his tape measure and started to measure the iguana from head to tail, dictating the numbers to Nyr who dutifully wrote them down in Bilbo’s notebook. Fili watched Nyr and Bilbo, one white blond and one strawberry blond head bowed over a sketch the young dwarf was attempting, with Bilbo giving advise on how best to do naturalistic sketches. With his smooth cheeks Bilbo had always looked like a very young dwarf to Fili and it wasn’t hard to imagine the two of them were both mids, working on a nasty equation together. The thought made Fili smile again. It had turned out to be quite a nice day so far and he was now actually kind of happy to have been given this job by Thorin. 

When Bilbo had made enough notes on the iguana, sketched a few quick drawings himself and measured everything he could think of measuring without cutting the poor animal up almost an hour had passed and the temperature had already risen considerably. Fili proposed eating and drinking something, a suggestion both Nyr and Bilbo thought was brilliant. The iguana didn’t voice it’s disposition in regard to a small break and just sat in the sun, blinking it’s gleaming black eyes at the two dwarves and the hobbit, who were having a small picknick in the shade of a cluster of trees. When they had finished eating, Bilbo tried to tempt the iguana with a piece of ship’s biscuit which the animal sniffed and then completely ignored. “Very wise chap.” Fili commented drily, succeeding in making both Bilbo and Nyr laugh. 

Checking the watch and the position of the sun, Fili saw that they had already used up half their time. Since they had stopped in between walking, they could still go a little bit further, but would soon be required to turn back. He told Bilbo and Nyr and the sleepy look that had settled on Bilbo’s face after their repast vanished as the hobbit shouldered his things and quickly moved on, not wanting to waste too much of his precious time with sitting around. They left the small clearing and Nyr waved to the iguana, which just sat on it’s rock and watched the two dwarves and the hobbit leave. It was probably glad to be rid of the uninvited guests.

Now that he knew he had to turn back soon, Bilbo didn’t waste much time. He very skilfully picked up a butterfly and a small lizard almost in passing, depositing them in a jar and a small cage and making notes on the places where he had found them, while walking. Fili sneaked a peek over Bilbo’s shoulder and saw that the page he was writing on was neatly filled with a tiny scrawl that Fili could not decipher. “Are going to be able to read that later, Doctor?” he asked Bilbo. “Mmh? Oh yes. Sure. It’s my own shorthand you see, great for taking notes when observing animals. Sometimes things happen so fast, you can’t waste time writing complete words. And since I devised it myself, it’s also sort of like a code if you will. ” Bilbo explained. 

10 minutes later he caught a small bird and even though Fili doubted it was wise taking the bird along, didn’t argue when the hobbit put it in a small cage and handed it to Nyr for carrying. 

Checking the sky and the watch again Fili had to tell Bilbo that they would have to turn around in a few minutes. Bilbo made an unhappy face at that. “But can’t we walk a little bit further? I think I can hear the surf, so we must have almost made it across the island already.”  
Fili stopped to listen and yes, Bilbo was right, he could hear the sound of waves from not too far away. It would probably be no harm to walk a few minutes longer if they made a bit extra haste in walking back, but Fili wasn’t quite convinced that Bilbo would manage that. He was sure to come upon something interesting he hadn’t noticed when they first walked by and would definitely waste time going back. “I say, ten minutes, and if we haven’t reached the coast by then, I’m sorry, but we’ll have to turn back.”

Bilbo and Nyr exchanged a look that clearly said ‘spoilsport’ and then both of them quickened their pace to an almost run. With a shake of his head, Fili hastened to follow them. A few minutes later the trees, which had been growing thick here, were thinning out again and Fili saw that Bilbo had been right, they had made it across the island. He could see a cliff in front of him, an almost sheer drop and behind that the landscape opened to the sea and the horizon. Bilbo stood, his hands on his hips between the bags and cages he was carrying, looking very proud and Nyr next to him copied the position. 

Fili walked past them and to the edge of the cliff and looked down in a small bay. It was a beautiful little spot, clear blue water and a small beach with brilliantly white sand. But Fili’s eyes were drawn to something else, which made him drop down to the ground on the spot where he was standing. A little way from the beach bobbing on the waves merrily like a duck on a pond, was a large war ship.

Fili crawled back from the edge, waving his hand at Bilbo and Nyr to stay back. When he was sure he could not be seen from the water he carefully got up and pulled the surprised hobbit and dwarf back with him another few paces. “There is a ship down there.” he told them in a low and urgent voice. “I couldn’t tell from the distance which ship it is. It’s not the enemy we are currently pursuing, but that doesn’t mean it’s a friend. ”

Both Bilbo and Nyr stared at Fili with wide eyes. He was thinking fast now. What should he do? He had to investigate this ship, but he also had to make sure Bilbo wasn’t put in danger. And even though Nyr was officially an officer candidate, he was also only a small boy and Fili felt responsible for him. Chewing his lip in thought, Fili made a quick decision. 

“Billigson, Dr. Baggins, you hide up here while I go and see if I can get a little bit closer to this ship. If I’m not back in 20 minutes you go back and report to the captain. You do not follow me. Under no circumstances are you allowed to follow me, is that clear?” Nyr nodded, while Bilbo looked uncertain. Fili pressed his lips together in a thin line. “Dr. Baggins? I need your assurance that you will not follow me. If anything happens to me, the captain needs to be alarmed of the presence of an unidentified ship. It is vital, that you follow my orders now.” Bilbo still looked mutinous, but made a jerky motion with his head that Fili took for a nod. “Good. Now, please hide among those trees. 20 minutes, alright? And then you go. No hanging around, you just return to the ship.” Fili extracted Bilbo’s watch from his pocket, rewound it and gave it to Bilbo, who handed it to Nyr. He watched both of them duck down in the shadow of the undergrowth and then carefully crawled back to the edge of the cliff. The ship was still bobbing gently on the waves, no living soul in sight, neither on deck nor on the beach. Fili scanned the side of the cliff, looking for a spot where he might climb down without being seen. A bit to the right of him was a crevice in the rock that would screen him from view and at the bottom of it, right under the spot he was now lying in, was a convenient copse of tall grass where he could hide. 

The climb would be dangerous, but Fili saw no other choice. He looked back at the greenery behind him, where he knew Bilbo and Nyr were hiding, gave them one more wave to stay out of sight and then crawled to the ridge in the rock and lowered his legs down the crevice.  
It was one hell of a climb, made worse because Fili tried to be quick and quiet. Even though his hands were toughened from years of work on a ship, Fili still tore his palms on the sharp stones and the tough grass growing on the rocks cut into his skin and he cursed mutely all the way down. He arrived at the foot of the cliff, at least still in one piece, crouching low to hide among the sharp blades of hard, yellowish green grass. He had a better view of the ship now. It was an older model, not much in use in the navy any more but still in good shape. Squinting his eyes Fili tried to make out any markings that would tell him which ship it was, but he could not see anything that was familiar to him. He pondered his next move. He couldn’t get much closer to the ship without being seen, but at the moment he didn’t see any use in getting closer anyways. There wasn’t much to do for him but climb back and then make his way back to the Orcrist as swiftly as possible. Just when Fili was about to crawl back up the cliff, he noticed movement on the beach. Somebody was coming around the edge of the cliff a few hundred yards from his position. It were three dwarves alright, but the sight of them didn’t bode well. Their clothes and the rough style of their beards and hair showed them to be simple sailors, but they wore pistols on their belts and one had an axe slung through a hop on his belt. No common sailor on a war ship or even a merchant would wear weapons like that. Those dwarves were pirates. 

This was not the first time Fili had met pirates. What with the many trading and whaling routes cutting across the waters, the sea had become a good place to earn some riches, or in the case of pirates steal them from others. The kingdoms of men seemed to breed most of them, but there dwarvish pirates as well. You couldn’t be sure about the orcs, in Fili’s eyes those were all renegades anyways. The elves were the only race in middle earth that could boast of having no deserters among them, none of the elvish sailors had ever gone rogue. 

Fili crouched lower in his hiding space, watching the dwarves move away from the cliff and across the beach. They were carrying a barrel, lugging it along the beach to a small boat lying tied in the gentle surf. ‘Probably restocking water as well.’ Fili thought. It wasn’t very surprising to come upon another ship in these latitudes, mostly merchants and whalers who in turn attracted pirates and the occasional enemy, eager for a price. Still it would cause a problem for Thorin and the Orcrist, if they ended up between a ship of renegade dwarves and their other enemy. Fili had just decided that he had seen enough, when he noticed a shadow in his field of sight. It didn’t do him any good. He only had time to turn his head and register that somebody was standing next to him, had obviously sneaked up on him along the side of the cliff, hidden from his view. And then something heavy crashed down on the back of his head and as Fili fell over to his side and consequently on his back, just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he saw Bilbo’s shocked face looking down on him from high up on the top of the cliff, clearly visible against the brilliantly blue sky.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's update time. You had to wait a bit longer again, so no long talking, here is the next chapter. 
> 
> Unbeta'ed and written in a rather erratic way between doing lots of other stuff, so if you find mistakes or if anything strikes you as completely strange let me know, so I can fix things. 
> 
> And the trusted bell-pattern as ever.
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
The wait in the bushes was something close to torture for Bilbo. He kept asking Nyr to check the watch, only to be told that it had not been a minute since he had last looked. After five minutes Bilbo was shifting nervously on the spot where he was crouching, after ten he was getting up and sitting down again every few moments, after 15 he was practically bouncing. He had a bad feeling about this. If something happened to Fili…. Thorin would be devastated! Of course, the young dwarf was a highly trained warrior, he’d been in the navy since he was a young lad, he certainly knew what he was doing. But still Bilbo was out of his mind with worry. When 19 minutes had passed without a sight of Fili, Bilbo made a decision. Divesting himself of the bags and small cages still on his body, he told Nyr to do the same, letting the captured lizards and beetles run free again. 

“Now listen to me, Billingson. You are to go back now. I will wait a few more minutes for Lieutenant Durin. No!” Bilbo held up his hand as Nyr was trying to interrupt him. “I know, he said we should both go immediately, but I think it’s wiser to split up now. You go, and I will follow in a few minutes.” 

“But sir. I cannot leave you here alone! You have to come with me.” Nyr said when Bilbo finally let him speak, looking rather agitated. 

“Billingson, you are probably much quicker anyways. I want you to hurry back to the Orcrist and tell the captain that there is an unidentified ship here. Time is of the essence, my boy.” Bilbo told him. He felt a bit bad for misleading the lad about his motive for sending him ahead, but it was vital that Thorin got this information and he didn’t want to risk anything. But Bilbo hadn’t counted on the young dwarf’s stubbornness and insightful thinking. 

“You are going after Lieutenant Durin, aren’t you, doctor?” Nyr asked and Bilbo wasted a few seconds time trying to look like he found the idea preposterous. When Nyr only fixed him with a doubtful look, Bilbo deflated.

“Alright. I’m going to have a look what is happening down there and see if I can do something. But I don’t want you to be involved in case something goes wrong. We need someone to alert the captain.” Bilbo told Nyr. 

“But sir, this could be very dangerous. And the lieutenant told us to go no matter what.” the lad argued. 

“I know. That’s why I want you to go.” Bilbo said.

“But I can’t leave you alone, sir!” Nyr answered, sounding desperate. 

“Well my boy, we seem to have discovered a tragic conflict here and I will be delighted to discuss that further with you when we are all safe back on the ship. But now is not the time for this, nor for dithering. So here is what we’ll do. I’ll crawl to the edge of the cliff and have a look over the edge while you stay here. Then we’ll decide what to do. Alright?” Bilbo took off his hat and shed his coat, pushing both into Nyr’s arms.

“Alright, sir. But please, just a quick peek and then we go.” Nyr pleaded and Bilbo nodded. 

“Yes, yes. I’m sure Fili is already climbing back up again.” With that Bilbo walked closer to the edge, dropping down to his stomach halfway there and crawling the rest of the way. He peeked down. At the foot of the cliff, right under him, Bilbo could make out Fili in a cluster of tall grass, crouching low, obviously watching the strange dwarves Bilbo could see on the beach. Bilbo was about to alert Fili to his presence, when he saw something move next to him and the hobbit clamped his hand over his mouth because a dwarf had suddenly appeared next to Fili and, before Bilbo could do anything, had hit the crouching dwarf over the head with a heavy mallet. Fili dropped without a sound and for a second Bilbo felt their eyes meet as Fili fell over on his back, but then the dwarf’s eyes fell close. And then the dwarf next to Fili raised his head, looking up and also straight into Bilbo’s eyes. With a small noise of distress Bilbo scrambled back. He was next to Nyr in a moment, shoving him towards the path they had come. 

“There’s somebody down there, they saw me. Fili is in trouble. You have to run and tell Thorin. They don’t know you are here, I will try to distract them. I think it is pirates. Now RUN!” Bilbo felt the words rush out of him, not really knowing if he made any sense, but Nyr nodded and then ran away as fast as his legs could carry him, Bilbo’s hat still in his hand. He disappeared from Bilbo’s sight, as the hobbit heard indistinct shouts ringing out from the beach. He looked around wildly. Nyr was gone, no sight of him anymore and the sound of him running was sure to die down soon enough. Hopefully the boy would make it back. But Bilbo had to make sure nobody went looking. He quickly slipped on his coat, went back to the small heap of his bags and cages and started to sling them back around himself. He hadn’t really thought his plan through but he didn’t really need to, because necessity soon dictated his actions. Just as he got up, he saw a dwarf coming over the top of the cliff. He obviously could climb like an ape and he had caught sight of Bilbo. With a small cry, Bilbo started running, not down the path Nyr had run, but along the cliff, away from the dwarf. It was an unfair race and over quickly. 

With a ferocious cry the dwarf threw his whole weight onto Bilbo, knocking him to the ground and the wind out of his lungs. Some of the cages shattered under the double impact and the small bits poked into Bilbo’s belly. But this hardly registered, as the dwarf tried to get hold of Bilbo’s arms. Bilbo couldn’t really fight back, lying on his stomach and trapped under the weight of a dwarf, but he tried his best nevertheless, kicking, flailing his arms and wriggling around. It didn’t help him at all. The dwarf managed to catch his arms in a tight grip and then hurled him up from the ground. “Stop fighting, or I’ll cut your throat.” he growled into Bilbo’s ear and finally Bilbo gave up and went limp in his captor’s arms. 

“Are there more?” the dwarf asked. Bilbo mutely shook his head and was put back on the ground. The dwarf didn’t loosen his grip on Bilbo’s arms. He expertly bent the hobbit’s arms behind his back, tying his wrists with a bit of rope. Then he cut away the ropes of the shattered cages still dangling from around Bilbo’s neck, taking the bags and riffling through them. There were a few pieces of ship’s biscuit in there, now in crumbs, a small pot of ink, a quill and Bilbo’s notebook. The dwarf pocketed the notebook and let everything else fall to the ground. 

With a push be moved Bilbo forwards, back the way they had run. When they walked past the path that Bilbo, Fili and Nyr had come from only half an hour earlier, Bilbo had to hold himself back and not look around for the boy. He prayed silently to Aule that the midshipman had followed his order and was running back to the Orcrist. 

They went past the point on the cliff that Fili had climbed down. Bilbo turned his head round, looking over his shoulder at his captor. “Who are you?” he asked. 

The dwarf gave him a dark look and then gave him a hearty shove to the back, making Bilbo almost fall down. “Keep walking.” he growled and touched a hand to the gleaming knife on his belt. Bilbo swallowed and stumbled forwards. They walked for maybe 10 more minutes, till they arrived at a steep gouge that had obviously been cut into the cliff by wind and rain, and that Bilbo could walk down with enough ease, even with his hands tied behind his back.   
They arrived down on the beach and Bilbo was pushed in the direction of the ship anchoring in the bay. He could see more dwarves on the beach now, two seemed to be carrying a limp figure between them to the small boat rocking in the surf.

‘Please let him be ok.’ Bilbo thought. Dwarves had thick skulls, but the hit to the head had also come from a dwarf and the mallet he had used had looked heavy. And Fili had only just recovered from a hit to the head. ‘My fault.’ Bilbo thought wretchedly. ‘Thorin allowed this excursion for my sake and he sent Fili along for me. And if he dies it is all my fault.’

It took them a few minutes to arrive among the small huddle of dwarves at the edge of the water. “What have you caught there, Frini?” one of the dwarves leaning on a large war hammer called over to Bilbo’s captor. “Is that a man child?”

“Don’t know. Get him into the boat.” Frini growled in a deep voice and gave Bilbo another hearty shove to the back, making him stumble the last few steps. The dwarf who had called out to them grabbed Bilbo, walked into the water and then heaved him into the boat. Bilbo, on his knees on the rough wood of the small boat, caught sight of Fili, lying on his side, his hands also tied behind his back. The lieutenant’s eyes were closed and his face pale, but his chest was rising and falling slowly. “He needs help!” Bilbo cried out and struggled against his bindings. The dwarves in the boat laughed roughly. “He won’t find help here.” one of them said and the others around him laughed even louder. 

“Please, let me look at him. I am a surgeon.” Bilbo said, not caring in his desperation that he was giving away information. But his plea went unheard anyways. The dwarves all climbed on board and then set off, rowing back to the ship. Bilbo tried to scramble over to Fili, but was hurled back roughly by one of the dwarves. “Sit still.” The tone of voice suggested a very threatening “Or else.” and so Bilbo held himself back. He didn’t stop staring at Fili however, trying to discern his state of health from the way he was breathing. Except for the fact that he was obviously still alive, it didn’t tell him much. 

When they arrived at the ship Bilbo expected to be untied, so that he could climb up the rope ladder hanging down the side of the ship, but apparently the pirates had experience with difficult prisoners and counted him among them, because they just tied a rope under his arms, heaving him up the side. It was an uncomfortable ride, Bilbo helplessly bumped against the hull, the skin on his unprotected legs getting scratched by the rough wood. 

He was heaved over the rail and then dumped unceremoniously on the planks. With his hands bound he couldn’t balance very well and fell down, crashing heavily on his left arm. It hurt, but Bilbo suppressed the groan of pain that threatened to escape him. Sitting up rather laboriously, Bilbo had a few moments to look around. The ship was a three mast ship like the Orcrist, but slightly smaller and definitely older, although it seemed in relatively good shape and you couldn’t have told from the look of the ship itself that it was handled by pirates. The crew however looked very different from the dwarves on the Orcrist. There the officers in their blue uniforms and the marines in their red gave a colourful contrast to the simpler but still orderly dressed and coifed sailors. The dwarves on the pirate ship looked like a rough crowd. While their clothes didn’t differ much from what the common sailors in the navy wore, although there was probably more leather and armour worn here, Bilbo noticed with interest that the pirates wore their hair and beards either braided in very extravagant styles or not at all, giving some of them the appearance of furry bears in clothes. But the most striking difference was that everybody on board wore weapons. Bilbo saw knives and broad dwarvish swords, axes and large hammers, but also the long elegant blades of elves and even a few muskets. 

Like on every other ship, the age range was quite large. There were ship’s boys running around, some looked even younger than Nyr Billingson. There were young and middle aged dwarves and even a few grizzled heads among the crew. But Bilbo knew enough of dwarves to not be fooled by a grey head. Dwarves only seemed to gain strength with age and got tougher, so those old seadogs were probably hard as steal.

Somebody grabbed Bilbo’s arms and pulled him to his feet again, giving him another heavy push in the back to make him move out of the way. If there was one thing that Bilbo hated then it was being pushed around, but he grit his teeth and kept silent, looking around to see Fili being heaved on board the same way Bilbo had come. The young dwarf’s head was lolling and he was still unconscious. ‘Don’t be really hurt.’ Bilbo thought fearfully and instinctively tried to move closer to Fili but his path was blocked.

“You’re going to see the captain now.” A voice Bilbo recognized as his captor Frini said and then he was shoved to the stairs leading under deck. “What about him?” Bilbo asked, jerking his head in Fili’s direction. The pirate shrugged. “He can’t talk at the moment. The captain will see him later. If he wakes up…”

Hearing his fear voiced so casually made a weight of lead drop in Bilbo’s stomach and he was so distraught, he almost fell down the stairs. Only the iron grip his captor had on his arm kept him from crashing down and in his confusion he even thanked the dwarf for it. He only got a deep grunt in reply. Below deck the ship also didn’t look much different from a navy ship. In the gloom he caught sight of the galley stove and a very rotund, ginger haired dwarf standing next to it. The cook gave him a curious look but quickly turned his attention back to his work when Bilbo’s escort banged on the door of the cabin. A deep voice called them to enter and for a second Bilbo could imagine it was Thorin’s voice calling, that he was back on the Orcrist and everything was alright. But the cabin he entered was nothing like Thorin’s cabin. Where the wooden walls in the great cabin on the Orcrist were painted white, making the room seem larger than it was, here they were painted in a deep green, so dark it was almost black. The cabin was cluttered with an assortment of mismatched chairs, sea chests and boxes and the stern window was partly covered by a red curtain, blocking out the glare of the sun and plunging much of the room in shadows. But even in the twilight, Bilbo’s eyes were drawn to the figure sitting behind the desk. The dwarf wasn’t very tall but broad shouldered. His dark hair was tied back in one simple plait, but it was his beard that called attention to it. It was an intricate weave of many small braids, all decorated with gleaming beads of mithril. Bilbo had never seen anything so elaborate, even Dori had never done anything this fancy with his hair. 

“Brought you a prisoner, captain. He carried this.” the dwarf next to Bilbo said, throwing the little notebook on the desk. “Found him on the cliff. There’s another one, dwarf, navy officer, but he’s out of it now.” There were a few moments of silence in which the dwarf behind the desk eyed both Bilbo and his captor, then he nodded and waved a dismissive hand, sending the sailor out of the room. He went without a word. Discipline was apparently just as strict on a pirate ship as it was in the navy. 

Bilbo, his hands starting to go numb from the tight fetters, shifted uneasily from one foot to the other while the sitting dwarf still looked at him silently. The hobbit almost jumped when he finally spoke. 

“So, what have we here? A halfling, if I’m not much mistaken.” The deep voice sounded interested. Bilbo bristled at being called a halfling and glared at the pirate captain. “Sir, I’d prefer if you wouldn’t use that word.” he said coldly. 

“Excuse me, a hobbit then, if you take so much offence at the word halfling.” the dwarf answered, sounding amused now and BIlbo started to wonder where this dwarf had met or seen a hobbit, to so quickly identify Bilbo as one. Hobbits rarely ever travelled more than a few miles over the borders of the Shire and Bilbo himself had only met two other hobbits in his years abroad, so it was very unlikely that this dwarf had actually met a hobbit before. The fact that he had heard of them was unusual enough. 

Most men tended to think Bilbo was some sort of dwarf, while most dwarves he had met usually assumed he was either a very small human or a very pitiable dwarf without a beard. The elves of course knew of hobbits, mentioned them in their writings and always were delighted to meet one, but Bilbo doubted this dwarf had read elvish books. So how on middleearth did he know about hobbits? And who was he? The dwarf sounded not like the pirates that had captured Bilbo and Fili on the beach. His speech sounded much more educated, the timbre and his choice of words all indicating that he was not a commoner. Bilbo silently watched the dwarf pick up the notebook and look through it. 

“I dare say that we have come across Dr Bilbo Baggins?” the dwarf finally said, a small smile playing on his lips as Bilbo goggled in speechless surprise. “Oh don’t look so surprised. You are famous Doctor. A famous naturalist.” Here he held out the notebook to Bilbo, showing the drawing of the iguana to Bilbo. “The only ever outsider who was allowed to sail on a dwarf ship. Friend of Thorin ‘Oakenshield’ Durin. I take it that his ship is not far away? On the other side of the island I presume? He is still commanding the Orcrist of course?”

Bilbo opened and closed his mouth a few times and then swallowed dryly. “I can’t answer any of your questions, I’m very sorry indeed.” He said with a polite bow of his head. The dwarf was surprisingly well informed. Of course Bilbo had gained a bit of fame in Erebor, but usually people didn’t recognize him as the Bilbo Baggins, friend to the heir of the throne of Erebor. Well how could they, not knowing what a hobbit looked like. Maybe the notebook with the drawings of plants and animals had put the pirate on the right path. That together with Bilbo’s unusual look was probably a dead giveaway. 

The dwarf sighed heavily, leafing through the book some more. “I didn’t expect anything else of course. Even though I am sure you won’t tell me this either, who is the officer my crewman talked about?”

“As you so rightly said, I can’t tell you that either.” Bilbo said with another bow. When he straightened up again he fixed the dwarf with a level gaze. “I can however tell you, that it would be very wise to let me and him go immediately and then hand yourself over to the authorities. I don’t know if there are any general pardons for pirates open at the moment, but I am convinced that if you surrender voluntarily you’ll be treated with all due consideration. And I give you my personal promise to do everything in my power to help you get a fair trial.” 

Bilbo had expected the dwarf to laugh but he just nodded and kept looking at Bilbo.   
When he finally spoke again his voice sounded weary. “I thank you for that kind offer but I must decline. And I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go either. You are a very valuable hostage. You must understand, I have to look after my men and for that I need money. And I’m sure I can get a rather high ransom for you. Maybe for that officer of yours as well.”

‘I hope he doesn’t find out who Fili is.’ Bilbo thought. It was lucky Fili didn’t resemble his famous uncle very much. Bilbo trusted that the pirates knew at least how Thorin looked like, him being the heir to Erebor’s throne and a famous captain, and would make a connection quickly if there had been greater likeness. Kili would have been exposed as Thorin’s nephew right away, Bilbo thought. Hopefully Fili, when he woke up, would have his wits together enough to not let his real name slip. In fact, exactly for situations like this, both Thorin’s nephews had aliases under which they were also entered in the ship’s book in case that it ever got into the wrong hands. 

Bilbo and the dwarf looked at each other mutely. It was Bilbo who broke the silence. “Well, I think there is nothing more to say now, is there?”

With a gentle smile the dwarf shook his head. “Not at the moment. I am sorry for putting you to inconveniences, but I will make sure you are treated with as much dignity and care as possible.”

Bilbo nodded. “Can I ask a favour?”

“Go ahead.” The dwarf said politely. 

“I’d like to see to the young officer. He has been hit over the head. As you know, I am a surgeon and I would like to make sure that my fellow crewmate is alright.” Bilbo held his breath. ‘Pleasepleaseplease, I need to look after him. I can never face Thorin if something happens to the lad.’ he thought, his bound hands clenched behind his back. The dwarf inclined his head and Bilbo breathed out, trying to remain calm. “I will let you have a look at him.”

“Thank you.” Bilbo said. The dwarf gave a shout in Khuzdul and Bilbo’s escort entered the cabin. “Take Dr Baggins to have a look at the other prisoner. Tell Bombur to send Bofur down to help him. Lock them up separately later. Dr Baggins, my pleasure.” The captain inclined his head in Bilbo’s direction and then picked up papers from his desk and immersed himself into reading them, dismissing both his sailor and the hobbit from his attention.

Frini nodded to the order and took Bilbo outside. He barked at the fat cook, obviously his name was Bombur, to find Bofur and send him down and then took Bilbo down the next flight of stairs. He picked up a lamp on the way which was good since it got darker and darker the further they went down. Together they moved down into the hull of the ship till they were down in the main hold. The air was damp and heavy down here, it was dark and cramped, but at least the floor was relatively dry and Bilbo could make out pallets in the small cells lining one wall. Most of the cells were filled with boxes, used as storage room. Only three were free, or better two, because one already held Fili. A lamp hanging from a beam outside his cell shone pale light on him. He was lying on his side on the pallet, hands bound behind his back, still with his eyes closed. 

Impatiently Bilbo waited till the sailor had unlocked the cell and then with even greater impatience waited for him to undo his bindings. When the tight cords fell away, blood rushed back into Bilbo’s hands and he hissed with the pain. Even though it felt highly uncomfortable, Bilbo started massaging his hands, needing them to be as nimble as possible, as he knelt down next to the pallet. “I need more light.” he told the sailor and the dwarf complied, holding his lamp over Fili’s head. 

Gently Bilbo pried Fili’s left eye open. The pupil contracted in the lamplight and Bilbo breathed out. He repeated the procedure with the right eye and was rewarded with the same reaction. After feeling Fili’s head, where another bump had appeared, and his neck for injuries Bilbo breathed a bit easier. Apart from the swelling on his head Fili seemed to be alright and would probably wake up soon, albeit with a headache. Just as Bilbo was trying to part the hair on Fili’s head to get a better look at the bruise, a cheery voice said “Well, what have we here? New prisoners? Oh no, Jari did this, right? Always has to hit them on the head.” 

Bilbo looked up and saw that another dwarf had arrived in the cell and was peering over his shoulder. The dwarf wore a floppy hat, his hair was messily braided in two pigtails, that stuck out under the flaps of the hat. His eyes were twinkling good naturedly and the upwards swing of his moustache highlighted the friendly smile he was wearing. 

The other dwarf grumbled something under his breath that Bilbo didn’t quite catch, maybe he was talking in Khuzdul but he was speaking in such a low voice that Bilbo couldn’t even tell that. The dwarf with the hat seemed to have understood him however, because he nodded and muttered “No problem. I’ll look after them.” in his lilting accent. Handing over the lamp, the other dwarf pushed his way out of the cramped cell and disappeared. 

“I need to see his head, so please hold the lamp closer.” Bilbo told the dwarf with the hat.

“Sure. I’m Bofur by the way and I’ll be your gaoler it seems.” the dwarf answered, his cheerful voice out of place in this prison and held the lamp closer. Bilbo parted Fili’s hair with gentle fingers and finally could take a look at the bump. It didn’t look as bad as the one the young dwarf had received a few weeks back, the skin hadn’t even been broken. The dwarf named Bofur gave a whistle behind Bilbo’s back however. “Looks like he got a pretty good hit on the head. Poor laddie, his ears will be ringing when he wakes up.”

“Yes, I’m sure they will. But you can help me make him more comfortable. Could you get me some clean water and a clean piece of cloth?” Bilbo asked and Bofur smiled and nodded. “Course. Just wait a bit.” He locked up the cell with Fili and Bilbo inside, but at least left them the lamp. Bilbo sat back on his haunches, there was not enough room on the narrow pallet Fili was lying on, and closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of Nyr. How much time had passed since the boy had started to run back? How far had he come by now? Was he even safe? There could be dangers lurking on that island. And when he arrived at the Orcrist, what would Thorin do? Bilbo wasn’t sure if he could do anything at all. Thorin had to follow the black orc ship. He wanted to follow the black orc ship, he had made that very clear. Would he deter from his course, just for Fili and Bilbo? Fili was after all his nephew, but then again Thorin always looked at the bigger picture. And a few pirates were probably not as important as catching a formidable enemy. Chewing on the inside of his lips, Bilbo tried to think of any way in which Thorin could do both, pursue the enemy and come to Fili’s and his rescue, but he couldn’t think of one. ‘We’ll have to help ourselves then.’ Bilbo finally thought. If only I can get Fili to wake up…

Bofur returned quickly, bringing with him a large bucket of seawater, a large jug of freshwater and a few pieces of frayed cloth. “There you go!” he said brightly, putting down his weight to unlock the door. Thankfully Bilbo took the jug of freshwater and dipped a small piece of cloth in it, then gently wiped Fili’s forehead. Then he took a wad of the cloth, dampened it with seawater and put it on the lump on Fili’s head, securing the cold wad with a long strip of linen. 

“Poor thing.” Bofur said gently, crouching next to Bilbo. He had taken the wet cloth Bilbo had abandoned and carefully wiped a bit of dirt from Fili’s cheek. “Jari was a smith before he was drafted. He hits hard.”

Bilbo sighed. “Yes, but it doesn’t look too bad. He needs a bit of rest and then he’ll be better.”

Bofur nodded, pouring a bit more water on the cloth and then folding it to lie on Fili’s head. Then he turned to Bilbo. “So, who are you lads? I can tell he is an officer but which ship? And you don’t look like a dwarf. I couldn’t really understand what Frini said. She speaks Khuzdul half the time and mumbles.”

“I can’t te……that huge dwarf was a female?” Bilbo suddenly realised what Bofur had said and stared. Bofur didn’t really seem to notice his surprise and rummaged in his pockets. “Yeah.” He said casually. “It’s not that common to have females on a ship, but Frini is a fine warrior. Doesn’t talk much and smells better than most of the lads do, so I’d wish there were a few more like her.” He pulled a small flask out of pocket and opened it to take a sip, then offered it to Bilbo. 

“What is that?” the hobbit asked suspiciously. He was starting to get the feeling that Bofur had been sent to get information by being nice. Being a spy himself, Bilbo knew all the tricks and he usually got much further with being nice than being unpleasant. 

The friendly dwarf shrugged. “Just a little pick-me-up. You look like you need it.”  
Bilbo continued to look suspicious and Bofur started to grin. “You don’t trust me, aye?”

“I’m sorry…” the hobbit started to say, but the dwarf interrupted him with a laugh.   
“I’m not offended, laddie. I would be, if I was in your situation. And this is just a bit of rum.” He shook the small bottle. “My brother’s the cook, so I can get my hands on all kinds of stuff.”

Bilbo looked at the dwarf. He had pocketed the bottle again and was now preparing another wet cloth, putting it in the back of Fili’s neck. He wore a look of quiet concentration while he worked, his kind face crinkled with worry now that he looked at the unconscious Fili. But just because he seemed nice didn’t mean Bilbo could trust him. A bit of friendliness however wouldn’t hurt and maybe Bilbo could get some information out of the dwarf in return. 

“My name is Bilbo and I’m a hobbit.” he told Bofur. The dwarf looked up at him. “Hobbit.” He said and Bilbo nodded. “Never heard of that before.” Bofur said and they both smiled. “I… have to lock you up in the next cell. Anything else you need?” he then asked. 

“No, not really at the moment. Maybe something for a headache, for when he wakes up? And could you let me stay here with him, until he wakes up?” Bilbo jerked his head in Fili’s direction. Weighing his head thoughtfully, the dwarf got up from where he had crouched next to Fili’s pallet. “Maybe. I have to ask about the cell. And I’ll see about something for a headache. I’ll be back in a bit. I have to keep watch on you two anyways, report when the lad wakes up.”

“Thanks. I appreciate your help, Bofur.” Bilbo said, as the dwarf offered him his hand and pulled him up from the ground. He was a bit nervous about being parted from Fili. The bars still allowed him to keep his eyes on the unconscious dwarf, but if anything unexpected happened he had no way to do anything. Fortunately it really didn’t take long till the dwarf came back. 

“Well, you can stay with the lad till he wakes up if I keep watch. And I brought you something for a headache. Some sort of dried bark. My brother gave it to me. Works like a charm, he says.” The keys rattled as Bofur unlocked Bilbo’s cell and then Fili’s to let Bilbo back in. After locking up behind the hobbit, Bofur pulled up an upturned bucket and sat down outside the cell. 

“That’s really very nice of you.” Bilbo said, checking Fili’s pupils again and then settling down on the floor next to his pallet.

“Aww, that’s alright. So, you must be a long way from home.” Bofur eyed Bilbo with curiosity.

“Aren’t we all?” Bilbo replied with a sigh, leaning back.

“I guess you are right.” Bofur said. “So, you are a surgeon? I’m a miner. I mean, I was. Got drafted into the navy. Didn’t mind much at the time, there wasn’t much work for me in the Iron Hills. Me brother was drafted as well, so I even had my family along. Then we were captured by pirates. They told us, it’s either work for them or get marooned on an island. Not much of a choice really. And the work is pretty much the same, so...” Bofur sighed. 

“That’s…really unfortunate. But why are you telling me this?” Bilbo asked and the dwarf shrugged. 

“Don’t know. I have to keep watch on you and the lad, tell the captain when he wakes up. So I thought I’d chat a bit. It’s not everyday we get a new face on the ship. ” Bofur smiled and somehow Bilbo believed him. That didn’t mean he was going to let his own guard down and tell him everything about himself. 

“I didn’t know people were still drafted into the navy.” Bilbo said, trying to divert Bofur’s attention from himself. 

“Well, they are in the Iron Hills.” Bofur said and started rummaging in his pockets again. He pulled a piece of wood and a knife from one of his many pockets and started to whittle at the small block.

“And…urm, don’t you mind being a pirate?” Bilbo asked, looking at the dwarf with a frown. 

“Not really. I mean, I didn’t chose to become a sailor in the first place. And as I said, when you have the choice to either get stuck on a little island with a small chance of ever being found and doing the same work you’ve already been doing, just for someone else, well, it’s not that hard to decide. Besides, we don’t do worse thing now then in the navy. I mean, then it was waiting for some discord to spring up between the kingdoms and start taking prices as soon as war was declared. Pirates are at war with everybody, so there are more prices to choose from, but it’s practically the same. And we’re usually much more sneaky and less violent.”  
“Why is that?” Bilbo asked. He had been given the impression that pirates were ruthless and violent and that anybody falling into their hands was sure to suffer deprivation and most certainly death. 

“Well, we always try to take prisoners to get ransoms. Much better than sinking ships all over the place and fighting bloody battles.” Bofur answered, cutting a splint of wood away and suddenly Bilbo saw that he was making a bear. Tearing his eyes from the bit of wood that had suddenly come alive the in the pirates hands, Bilbo studied his face. What he said made sense. Bilbo had never heard of ransoms being paid to pirates but that was quite certain to be a tactic. If it was common knowledge that something like this was practiced, officers would be taken hostage all over the place. And it put especially the midshipmen at a much greater risk. Capturing them must be considered to be much easier than taking a grown and battle hardened dwarf hostage and the desperate parents would do everything to get their child back. Dwarves really valued their children above everything else. 

“I see.” Bilbo said. He was really glad now that he had sent Nyr back and he silently prayed the lad would reach his goal safely. Could he already be back? Bilbo didn’t know how much time had passed, he couldn’t even check his watch because he had given it to Nyr.

A noise behind his back almost made him jump and then he quickly turned around. Yes, his ears had not betrayed him, Fili had made a small groan and his eyelids were flickering. He was waking up. ‘Thank Aule!’ Bilbo thought. 

Taking away the wet cloth from Fili’s neck and forehead, he touched a hand to the dwarf’s cheek and held him still with the other on his shoulder. “Ginri.” He said, using Fili’s alias and hoping he would react to that. “Ginri, how are you?”

Fili’s eyes fluttered open, his face screwing up as pain seemed to register. “What…what happened? Where am I?” he croaked.

“We were captured by pirates, Ginri. You and me.” Bilbo hoped Fili would get the message that Nyr had escaped and was on his way to report to Thorin. For the moment Fili just looked confused. Bilbo lifted the jug of freshwater to his lips and let him have a few sips. 

“Oi, wait, I have a cup here.” Bofur said and handed it through the bars. That made it easier for Bilbo to give Fili water, but also attracted Fili’s attention. His eyes shifted from Bilbo’s face to the dwarf standing behind the bars. “Who…” he said weakly and Bofur smiled. “I’m Bofur, your friendly gaoler. Sorry for having to lock you up.”

This only served to confuse Fili more. Bilbo helped him drink a few more sips of water and then eased his head down. “Easy now, Ginri. You relax now. Tell me, where do you hurt?”

“Head.” Fili said, his eyes closed again. “Shoulder feels a bit sore, but that’s it.”

Bilbo breathed out in relief. Apart from the bump on the head, Fili didn’t seem to have gotten more injuries. “Feeling nauseous?”

“No, not really. Only my head hurts.”

“Well, we can do something about that. Bofur, do you know how to apply this bark? I mean, how much can I give him?” Bilbo turned to Bofur and Fili opened his eyes again to look at the dwarf. 

“A small pinch in a cup of water, Bombur said.” Bofur told Bilbo as he unlocked the cell and then handed him the small leather pouch. “A bit more or less won’t do any harm.”

Bilbo prepared the cup and then stared at it uncertainly. Would he dare giving Fili something he didn’t know would work, a medicine that could be anything? Even if he trusted Bofur, which was indeed not very wise, this went against his instincts as a surgeon. Bofur seemed to sense his indecision and the reason for it because he took the cup out of Bilbo’s hand and swallowed it’s contents. “Have a bit of a sore head myself. And now you know it’s not poison.” He said and winked. 

Not taking the time to thank him, Bilbo mixed another pinch of the powder with some water and gave it to Fili who drank and then sank back with a sigh.

Bilbo looked up from his pale face to Bofur. “Do you have to report he’s woken up?” If the captain insisted on seeing Fili now, it would definitely not be very good for him. Every moment of rest was precious. 

“I’m sorry, but yes. But the captain’s quite busy at the moment, we’ve just set sails again and it will be a while till he has time for anything. I’m sure he’s not going to want to see the lad till tomorrow. Come on now, I have to lock you back in your cell.” Bofur waved his arm and Bilbo followed him reluctantly. Then the dwarf disappeared again and Fili and Bilbo were left alone. 

“What happened?” Fili whispered faintly, as Bofur’s footsteps had died away. 

Bilbo leaned as close to the bars as he could get. “You got hit on the head again. I’m sorry I didn’t follow your order but I went to check what was keeping you and they saw me. I tried to run but no good. They got me too. Me and you, Ginri.” Bilbo said, putting much emphasis on the last sentence. He couldn’t be sure if somebody was spying on them and couldn’t risk giving Nyr away. 

Fili blinked slowly and nodded. He probably had got Bilbo’s meaning. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yes, everything is well. Don’t worry about me. You rest now.” Bilbo told Fili. The dwarf gave a tired hum in reply and a few minutes later his deep and slow breathing told Bilbo that he had fallen asleep again. 

Sinking down on his own narrow pallet, Bilbo felt his shoulders relax slightly. Fili would be alright. Bilbo would not have to face Thorin with the news that his stupidity had killed his nephew. Well, at least at the moment he was alright. Now Bilbo only had to make sure that he stayed that way. Which, given the streak of stubbornness and recklessness that seemed to run in the Durin family, wasn’t going to be easy. 

‘If only Nyr gets to the Orcrist alright.’ Bilbo thought and rubbed his tired eyes. ‘If only Nyr gets there soon.’


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers! Just wanted to say that I'm so grateful for all your comments, kudos and every click this story gets. You're all making this such a joy for me. Thank you!
> 
> This chapter is split in two sections, the first coming from Nyr's pov, the second one from Thorin's.
> 
> This took me a bit longer again and I blame Thorin. He was reluctant to talk about his feelings and stuff. Kept grunting unintelligible things at me. Little Nyr was so much more cooperative! He gets to stand up to his nemesis in this. Brave little boy. So let's get cracking, after the ever trusted bell pattern.
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
Nyr ran. His feet were pounding the ground in a fast and heavy rhythm, but the sound was drowned out by the loud rush of his blood in his ears, the wheezing of his own breath. He didn’t really know for how long he had been running, all he knew was that he had to get back to the Orcrist as fast as he could. Since Dr. Baggins had pushed him down the path they had come earlier, desperately shouting instructions at him, Nyr had run. He had been running flat out at first, the path being wide and fear lending him wings. By now he had slowed down. Now that he was back in the deeper growth of the island, he had to check where he was going more regularly and his strength was starting to wear thin. 

His legs hurt, the muscles cramping after hours of walking and now running, he could feel blisters forming on his heels and on his toes. The boots on his feet were sturdy and well worn, but not made for running. Sweat had drenched his clothes, making the linen of his shirt rub uncomfortably under his arms, chaffing the tender skin on his joints. His dry throat hurt and his chest hurt and practically his whole body hurt. All he wanted to do was lie down and curl up in a tight little ball and go to sleep, dreaming of his home, where his parents would talk quietly by the fire and his sister hum a little song while she whittled on a piece of wood. But those pleasant dreams wouldn’t make anything go away. They never did. 

So Nyr grit his teeth and ran on. He was an officer of his royal majesty’s navy. He had a duty. And not only a duty. He owed it to Dr Baggins, who was always so nice to him and who knew so many fascinating things. And especially to Lieutenant Durin, who had always been so very kind to him.

A bead of sweat creped into his eye and Nyr blinked rapidly, the salty liquid making his eye sting and robbing him of vision for a moment. He overlooked a root on the ground and fell heavily, flat on his face. For a few moments he lay panting on the ground, wishing he could stay where he was and not having to care about anything anymore. He let his forehead rest against the ground, breathing in deeply, the smell of dry earth and sand filling his nostrils. But then he heard a noise and he looked up, looking into the ugly face of the iguana they had examined earlier that day. Well, he wasn’t sure if it was the same iguana, but as Nyr looked around now, he saw that he was close to the spot where they had first encountered the strange animal. The iguana looked at Nyr unblinkingly and Nyr stared back. He thought of Dr. Baggins’ excitement when he had seen the iguana, about Lieutenant Durin’s jokes about the animal’s good sense not to eat the offered ship’s biscuit and the thought of his two shipmates brought Nyr back to his feet. And then he jogged on. 

By the time he could hear the surf from the shore he had set off from this morning, Nyr wasn’t even jogging any more. He was trotting at an uneven pace, putting his feet in front of each other by pure power of will. Stumbling onto the beach, he saw the familiar figures of his shipmates down by the water, loading barrels into two boats. He recognized a few of the sailors and then his eyes fell on Greni Hunin. Of course. He had been in charge of restocking. Nyr didn’t even have the strength to feel afraid. Dragging his tired feet, he made his way over to the water edge. “I need to see the captain.” he tried to shout, but his throat was so dry that only a raspy sound came out. It alerted the other dwarves to his presence however. They all stared at him, as he stumbled forward. Nyr swallow. “The captain!” he managed to say. “I need to see him immediately.”

Greni’s face split into a grin as he took Nyr’s dishevelled appearance in, the dirt on his uniform and face and the hair stuck wetly to his head . “Do you now? Well, we still have some barrels to load. Once we have them all on board, we’ll give you a lift. Might be two more trips, then we ferry you over…”

“No! You don’t understand! I need to see him now, please! It’s…” Nyr tried to argue, but Greni cut across him. “I understand quite well. But you’ll have to wait.”

Nyr stared at the other dwarf, even after having ample proof that Greni was an utter bastard he was still always surprised when he acted like one. “Please, I need to speak to the captain now. It’s pirates… ”

Again Greni didn’t let Nyr finish, waving to the sailors to keep loading the boat with barrels. “Don’t talk rubbish, Billingson.” He said, pushing the boy out of the way with a sneer. And Nyr knew that Greni was enjoying this, denying him help when he was so desperate. And instead of the usual dread, anger filled Nyr. Not only were people he cared for depending on him, Greni was acting against protocol. Nyr had stated a reasonable request, trying to undermine that it was justified and urgent and Greni just wasn’t listening. Despite his exhaustion Nyr pulled himself up to his full height, grabbed Greni by the arm as he tried to push past and gave him a cold look. 

“Hunin, I am now taking command of one of these boats. I am going to the Orcrist immediately to give an urgent report to the Captain.” Nyr felt a surge of triumph at the way the smug satisfaction on Greni’s face changed to an expression of disbelieve. The sailors loading the barrels into the boats stopped what they were doing and stared at the two officers. Greni’s jaw clenched. He obviously did not like to have his authority overruled in front of the sailors. Then he leaned close, his eyes narrowed in a mean way and grabbed hold of Nyr’s arm, pulling him to the side. “You can’t do that, Billingson.” he hissed, outrage in his tight voice. “I’m in charge of these boats and you little start-up can’t just swoop in and take command of one. The Captain will hear about this.”

Although he felt a sliver of the old fear that Nyr would probably always associate with Greni, he pulled his arm out of the grip of the older dwarf and gave him another cold look. “It is in compliance with the regulation that in case of emergency I can overrule your command. If you want to take that up with the Captain, you are welcome to do that.”

The sneer on Greni’s face became more pronounced as he leaned in, trying his usual intimidating technique. “There is no emergency. You’re just touched in the head. Probably the heat. Little ninny like you can’t take a bit of sun.” And as he stood facing his opponent, Nyr suddenly realised in a moment of strange clarity that it was Greni who was afraid. Nyr didn’t know what Greni was afraid of and it didn’t mean that Nyr had to pity him. But it meant that he had no hold over Nyr any more. “You know what, Hunin?” he said. “I think it is you who is touched in the head.”

“You little squirt!” Greni hissed and pushed Nyr in the chest, making him fall over in the sand, almost hitting his head on the boat. One of the sailors shouted “Oy!” in surprise. An act of open aggression against a fellow crewmate was a serious offence and the push might already be counted as one. Greni was standing over Nyr, his fists clenched at his sides, a look of anger on his face now. Nyr pressed his lips together and got up from the ground, brushing sand from his uniform. “Midshipman Hunin, if you insist on hindering me in the fulfilment of my duty in this outrageous fashion, I will report you.” he said, surprising himself with how calm he sounded because his heart was hammering in his chest. He’d never dared stand up to Greni like this before, always fearing retribution. But he wasn’t doing this just for himself now. Dr. Baggins and Lieutenant Durin were relying on him. And the Captain needed to know that there was a pirate ship just around the corner. 

There was a muscle working in Greni’s cheek as he stared at Nyr, but he did not try to hold him back any longer. They stared at each other silently for a moment and then Nyr turned on his heel and walked to the boat that was almost ready to be cast off. “Broadbeam, this boat will ferry over now. Get your team ready.” Nyr ordered the sailor standing at the stern of the boat and the dwarf, standing a foot taller than then the midshipman, saluted smartly. “Yes, Sir.” 

The trip from the beach to the ship took no time at all and at the same time did seem to last forever. As long as Nyr had been running the speed of his progress had been down to him. To be left at the mercy of others, in this case the team of sailors rowing the boat over the choppy waves that were typical of the sea so close to land, was a severe try of his patience now. Digging his nails into the palms of his hands, the young dwarf tried to sit still and breathe calmly. Once the boat gently bumped against the hull of the Orcrist, Nyr almost flew up the rope ladder hanging over the side. As he hurled himself over the rail, he was greeted by the smiling face of Kili. “Hello Nyr! You’re back early!” The other midshipman, apparently now in charge of stowing the refilled water barrels under deck again, came over from the spot where he had been talking to the storage crew. When he came closer and could take in the state of Nyr’s clothes and face, the smile became a rather surprised expression. “Nyr, what’s happened?”

Nyr shook his head. “I need to speak to the captain.” he said urgently. The tone of his voice and look on his face must have carried enough of his emotional state that Kili became immediately concerned. His usually sunny face turned into a dark frown that was so much like that of Captain Durin, that Nyr was startled for a moment. But Kili nodded and pointed to the stairs. “He’s in the great cabin.”

“Thanks, Kili.” Nyr said gratefully and hurried to the latch and then down the stairs to the upper deck. When he passed the Captain’s steward Oin on the way to the cabin, the old dwarf tried to stop him, but Nyr pushed on, calling “I’ve got important information for the captain.” And Oin let him pass to knock smartly on the door of the great cabin. 

The wave of courage that had carried Nyr this far suddenly left him a bit weak in the knees, when through the door the deep voice of Captain Durin answered. “Enter!”

In the six months that Nyr had been on board of the Ocrist, he had only once spoken directly to the Captain and that could hardly be counted as a conversation. The Captain had asked him a few questions and Nyr had answered in quivering monosyllables. Quite an embarrassing experience. And now he had to march into the great cabin and face the famous Captain Thorin “Oakenshield” Durin, heir to the throne of Erebor, hero of many sea battles and famous for his bravery and tactical skill and tell him that his nephew and surgeon had been taken prisoner by pirates. Nyr squared his narrow shoulders and entered the cabin.

*******

Thorin was sitting at his table in the great cabin, writing a letter to his sister Dis when a knock on the door made him pause. He called “Enter!” and quickly finished the sentence he was writing, then faced the person who had entered.  
“Billingson!” Thorin called, surprised. In the time the youngster had been on board he had never come to the cabin and truth be told Thorin hadn’t given him much thought. The boy always attended to his studies and duties with care, so Thorin had no reason to encourage or scold him there and since Nyr was a quiet and shy boy, he didn’t draw attention to himself in other ways. As the mid now stood in front of Thorin, his face red and his blond hair and downy beard plastered to his face with sweat, he reminded Thorin of Fili at that age. Like Nyr he had been very conscientious with his work and a little bit shy, and even though Fili had been a bit plumper than the slender midshipmen now quivering before Thorin, they could have passed for brothers with their blond hair and fair skin. 

The boy saluted smartly and Thorin smiled. “Billingson, what brings you here?” he asked in a kindly voice. He wasn’t one to mollycoddle the midshipmen but he also knew how intimidating it must be for a boy from a rather humble background like Nyr to converse with a Captain who wasn’t only the absolute ruler of the ship they were sailing with, but also heir to the throne of the kingdom. 

Nyr hesitated for a moment and now Thorin realised that something was wrong. The boy’s uniform was covered in dirt, as was his face, his hat was missing and he looked quite distressed. “Sir!” he finally burst out. “Dr Baggins and Lieutenant Durin, they have been taken prisoner by pirates.”

“What?!” Thorin shouted and he vacated his chair with so much force that it tumbled right over. A flash of anxiety moved over Nyr’s face but he stood fast and then launched into an explanation of everything that had happened on the island. When Nyr described how Bilbo had chased him away, determined on drawing the pirates attention on himself to enable the boy to run away, Thorin clenched his fists. Blasted hobbit! Why did he have to do that? Why not follow Fili’s orders, which, if Nyr’s story was accurate and Thorin had no reason to doubt that, had been completely sound and reasonable. 

“And then, Sir, I just ran back to tell you everything, like the Doctor told me.” Nyr ended and Thorin nodded darkly. He turned round and picked up the chair he had pushed over. Then he gripped the back of it, staring blindly at the paper lying on his writing desk. He had a decision to make and it was one he wouldn’t want to push on his worst enemy. Actually, that wasn’t true. He certainly would wish a conundrum like this on an enemy. But that was neither here nor there and didn’t help him any further with the problem at hand. Catching the black orc ship was what he had been ordered to do, an order that couldn’t have been closer to his own inclination. But now this inclination, this order, was severely challenged. Pirates were a threat that had to be dealt with and the thought that his beloved nephew and Bilbo… Thorin bit down a growl of anger and gripped the back of the chair tighter, so tight that the wood creaked in stress and the skin was stretched over his knuckles so tight that it was white. Bilbo, in the hands of pirates. Bilbo, who had been so hurt by the denial of exploration on the Shell Islands that he hadn’t talked to Thorin for a week. His best friend, his…

Nyr’s voice shook Thorin out of desperate thought. “I know I shouldn’t have let the Doctor have a look himself, but he wouldn’t listen to me! I didn’t know what to do, Sir! He just wouldn’t listen.” 

Thorin looked at him and the distress on the boy’s face went to his heart. “It’s not your fault, Billingson. I‘m well acquainted with Dr. Baggins and his ways and I can imagine how adamant he was in pursuing his own, slightly ill designed, plans.” 

“Then I should have stayed and defended him, Sir.” The boy said, his head hanging low now. Again the similarity to his nephew struck Thorin, Fili as well would have been disappointed in own deportment instead of seeing that he had done all he could and had actually held up admirably under the circumstances. Thorin stepped forward and put a heavy hand on Nyr’s shoulder. 

“Billingson, you have done nothing wrong. Quite the opposite. You wouldn’t have been of help to your shipmates if you had been caught, too. Now we know about the situation. And I assume those pirates don’t know we know. We have an advantage.” Thorin’s deep voice was steadfast and calm as ever and Nyr looked up at him, reassured. 

Thorin thought for a few more moments. He knew he should follow the orc ship. If Bilbo and Fili were alive, the pirates were likely to try and exchange them for a nice ransom. This happened quite often, although the admiralty tried to keep it quiet and Thorin only knew about it because due to his father’s unstable mind he was crownprince and next in line to the throne and had to be kept abreast of everything that went on in the kingdom. If Fili managed to conceal his identity the demands for him wouldn’t even be that high. They would be back with Thorin in a few months, maybe a year, not much worse for wear and probably a bit wiser.  
If they were dead… Thorin’s mind refused point blank to follow that line of thought. Bilbo was not dead. Thorin would simply not allow that. Both of them were alive, he was sure of it and the pirates would not hurt them, if they were clever. And most pirates were. So the choice he had to make wasn’t even that hard. He had his orders and Fili and Bilbo would be alright, without his help. Yes. He knew what he had to do. 

Stepping to the door and wrenching it open Thorin shouted “OIN! I need to see Balin and Dwalin this instant!” Then he turned round to look at Nyr. “You’ve done really good my boy. And now we are going to rescue them.”

Nyr’s face light up at the firm statement and he saluted. “Yes, sir!” 

“Now, Billingson, I want you to get cleaned up a bit, eat and drink something and rest. You can’t do anything at the moment and I need everybody in top form later, alright?” Thorin told the boy and Nyr nodded and saluted again and then left Thorin alone in the cabin. 

The minute the boy had gone Thorin started to search through the sea charts on his desk. The shape of the small islands wasn’t very clear, nobody had bothered to explore and get them completely right so far and Thorin cursed silently, till he remembered it was probably Captains like him that had hindered explorers like Bilbo from getting more information about the exact shape of the islands. When he had a bit more time on his hands he would have to think about that. Maybe they needed to start sending out exploration ships with the sole purpose of gathering information. It would cost the kingdom a fortune but it would help them in situations like this. And maybe Bilbo could head the exploration. He would really like something like that. Thorin imagined Bilbo’s face when he told him of his plans, the way his mouth would spread into a smile, his eyes shining brightly, how his voice would get higher in excitement and how he would say Thorin’s name…

And then Thorin dragged his mind away from those pleasant fantasies. First he had to rescue the hobbit. Then he had to shout at him for being so stupid and letting himself be caught. Then he would have to apologize for shouting and for everything else he had done. And then he could start making Bilbo smile again.

It was good Thorin had something to concentrate on or otherwise he would have dwelled on the image of a smiling Bilbo, which would inevitably lead to him wondering why on earth it was so important for him to make Bilbo smile. The hobbit was his best friend in the world but that hardly justified how Thorin’s thoughts would often turn to him of their own volition and how they would stay there, making Thorin feeling quite warm and happy. He had indeed pondered why Bilbo had such an effect on him, but come to no other conclusion than this was what the emotions towards a best friend felt like. 

Now however he immersed himself in his maps and started making calculations. When Balin and Dwalin joined him in the cabin a few minutes later, Thorin had already covered a small sheet of paper with numbers. 

“Balin, Dwalin, come in and close the door.” He told them distractedly when the dwarves arrived at the cabin door. He straightened up and faced his sailing master and captain of the marines. “I have some grave news. Lieutenant Durin and Doctor Baggins have been taken prisoner by pirates.” Both Balin and Dwalin gasped at the news and Thorin waved at them impatiently to keep quiet while he talked them through the report Nyr had given him. Both dwarves looked grave when Thorin finished. 

“And what are we going to do, Captain?” Dwalin asked. It was clear for everybody present that their orders were to catch the orc ship at any price. But it was also clear that Thorin could get away with deviating from those orders. 

Thorin put his hands on his hips and stared determinedly at the two in front of him. “We are going to rescue them.”

Balin’s worried face relaxed a little and Thorin smiled thinly when he noticed that. He knew that Balin liked Bilbo very much and that the two of them often talked about politics and philosophy, the latter subject bored Thorin to tears. Which made him that much more happier to know that Bilbo had someone to discuss this with. 

The frown on Dwalin’s face deepened into a determined scowl. Thorin also knew what that meant. Dwalin had been responsible for much of Fili’s and Kili’s training, at least the part of it that was fighting, and he loved the two young princes like they were his own younger brothers. The feelings were definitely mutual and Thorin knew for a fact that Dwalin was one of the very few people that Kili was in awe of. Despite Kili being much more like Dwalin himself, with his more outgoing and aggressive nature, Thorin also knew that the disciplined and hard-working Fili was Dwalin’s secret favourite and he would do anything to protect him.

“What is the plan, sir?” Balin asked while Dwalin cracked his knuckles in a way that looked threatening but was actually a sign of him fretting and trying to calm himself.

“We will set sail as soon as possible and sail round the island. It’s pretty much like the course we would have sailed anyway, so there isn’t even much lost at this moment. The wind is in our favour, so we can make good time I think.” Thorin waved Balin and Dwalin over to the table where he had spread a sea chart. Tapping a certain spot on the chart with his right forefinger he went on. “We then will lay in wait somewhere around here. If the charts are correct, it is a perfect hiding spot and those pirates have to sail past it if they want to make use of the wind. I doubt that they are going to sail the other way round the island. Balin?” 

Balin surveyed the chart and nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I agree, Captain. The chart indicates strong currents there and sailing against them and the wind would be tricky and dangerous. And they have no particular reason to risk that. They know we must be somewhere in the vicinity, but not our exact position. And they have every reason to assume that we will send out search parties on the island for our lost crewmembers first. And even if they do set sail right away, we still have the better wind. I think your plan can work.”

Dwalin leaned over his brother’s head to look at the chart as well and shrugged. He had been serving for Thorin in the navy for a long time now but since he was hardly involved in the sailing he couldn’t care less about navigation. 

“And what then? Once we have caught up with them, what happens then?” Dwalin asked and turned his face to Thorin, who looked back at him with an equally hard stare. 

“Since we are in a position to come upon them by surprise, we will be doing just that, surprise them. And we will be ready for battle, whereas they will have no time to prepare. But we will not provoke them. We will try to enter negotiations. I think they will enter into negotiations with us and that way we’ll get Fili and Bilbo back.” Thorin outlined the plan he had formed in the last few minutes. Dwalin nodded his approval but Balin weighed his head in a pondering fashion as he kept staring at the maps. Thorin watched him closely and when the sailing master just kept staring at the black lines on the creamy paper, Thorin cleared his throat to get his attention.

“Balin?” he said, clearly with the intent of rousing the dwarf from his silent musings and agreeing with his captain’s plan. But Balin sighed heavily and turned a worried look to Thorin, one that was clearly not heralding his acquiescence. 

“I can’t say that I’m very happy with this plan of yours, captain. Not happy at all.” the white headed dwarf said. Thorin stepped forward urgently, grabbing Balin by the shoulders and speaking only to him. 

“I understand you perfectly, Balin. I know that this is risky. I know that if those pirates refuse to parley, we are in a fine fix.” Thorin squeezed the shoulders he was holding on to, his face and voice begging for Balin’s understanding now. “But I don’t see any other way. We have to try this.”

“Captain!” Balin began and then, taking the hands from his shoulders and squeezing them in his palms, Balin went on in a much lowered voice. “Thorin. I know it is your nephew and Bilbo we are talking about now. But we will be putting them in grave danger with this scheme. If the pirates refuse to parley, we will have to attack. If we don’t, we’ll not only loose every advantage we ever had, we are also likely to be taken by them. But if we attack, we put Fili’s and Bilbo’s life at risk. If we don’t kill them by accident with our attack, then those pirates will kill them for us.”

Dwalin, who had been standing with his mighty arms crossed over his broad chest, made an impatient noise as Balin stopped talking. “What are you proposing then, brother? That we let them go? That we let them take the doctor and the lieutenant to collect ransom for them? We might not see them back with us for several years! Or ever again!” The dwarf’s voice had risen in volume till he was almost shouting but Balin looked unimpressed by his brother’s show of emotion. He shock his head sadly. 

“I am not proposing anything else but caution. We should not enter into this lightly. We have to be aware of the risks and the ramifications of our actions.” he said, looking up at Thorin pleadingly. 

The captain nodded and smiled weakly. “I am aware of the risk. If I could avoid it I would do it happily, but there is no choice. Either we let them sail and risk never seeing them again, hoping that they are returned to us some day, or we take action and risk losing them because of that.” As he spoke, the fear he had pushed away, had not dared to acknowledge, flared up again. The fear of losing Bilbo and Fili, losing them because he made the wrong decision. Under normal circumstances he wouldn’t even have allowed Balin to see his indecision, this insecurity. But Thorin was desperate now and the desperation evident in when he again took Balin by the shoulders. “So, if you have a better idea, I would be most gratified to hear it. If not, then I need your assurance that you will give me your complete support and that you will do everything in your power to help me with this.”

Thorin looked at Balin, saw the hesitation and worry in his face but then the dwarf nodded. “I am with you, Captain, whatever action you decide to take and I will give you my best advice as ever.”

A bit of the tension that had been holding Thorin in its grip seemed to let up. He was the captain of the Orcrist but without the support and backup of his officers and crew he was nothing. Thorin had known Captains that had not worked with but against their crews and their life had been even lonelier and harder than his. He smiled at Balin gratefully and Balin smiled back. 

Dwalin, who had waited with an air of impatience for Thorin and Balin to come to an agreement, now cracked his knuckles. “What are your orders, Captain?”

With a last squeeze, Thorin let go of Balin and turned to Dwalin again. “I want your men armed and ready for action.” He turned to Balin. “I want the whole ship ready for battle but no outward signs. So we do not beat to quarters, just in case. Spread the word by mouth. If we can get Fili and Bilbo by bargaining, I am willing to let those pirates get away and I don’t want them to get nervous. But I want everything ready in case we need to fight.”

Both Balin and Dwalin nodded and then left the great cabin. Only a few moment later Thorin heard feet running, wood scraping. The sounds of his ship getting ready for action. Sounds he knew well, sounds he usually welcomed. But not today. Today they grated on his nerves, reminded him of his fear. Thorin started to clear away the sea charts on his desk, rolling them up and putting them in a cupboard. As he stored away the maps, his eyes fell on a sheet of paper covered in lines and musical notes. It was a sonata Bilbo had copied on his last stay on land, given to Thorin on his birthday as new material for them to play. For a moment Thorin looked at the black ink, Bilbo’s neat handwriting so familiar. Then he tore his eyes away from the notes, closing the cupboard sharply. 

Mahal have mercy, if something happened to Fili, Dis would kill him. But if something happened to Bilbo, he would kill himself.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers!  
> Sorry it took me so long to update and the chapter isn't very long. And I'm afraid it will take a while for the next update in this story. I'm currently deep into the last phase of a very important work project (hopefully it's done by the end of the year) and I don't have much time for writing and then there is this story that I really want to do for Advent and I might focus on that for a bit. But I'll definitely try and have another chapter up by end of the month. 
> 
> Enough chatter from me, there's a revelation in this chapter and a surprise and I'm just so excited to hear what you guys think about it. Let me know! 
> 
> Unbeta'ed, so please let me know if you find mistakes. 
> 
> Bell pattern:
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
Fili woke up feeling disorientated. It took him a few moments to remember where he was and what he was doing here. He sat up, expecting to feel dizzy, but he was fine, except for a slight headache. Feeling his head gingerly, he looked around in the gloom. There wasn’t much to see in the dim light, but as he turned his head, Fili could see Bilbo sitting up in the cell next to him and a gleam of teeth told him that the hobbit was smiling. 

“Ginri!” Bilbo whispered and Fili was reminded of their dire position by the use of his alias. He scooted closer to the bars dividing their cells, seeing Bilbo do the same. 

“Tell me, how is our situation.” Fili enquired of him and Bilbo complied, whispering all that had happened, leaving out the parts of the story that an unseen listener might use against them. When he had finished Fili rubbed his temples wearily. It was indeed quite a mess they had landed in. While Fili knew that he had done right in trying to discern who the ship belonged to, he should have been much more decided in sending Bilbo and Nyr ahead. Both of them might have been now safe on the Orcrist, if only Fili could have mustered a bit more authority. He sighed. Pondering about the would have beens would do them no good.

Fili turned to Bilbo again. “Have you gathered anything else about our captors?” 

“Not much. I have picked up the few names I told you, but they mean nothing to me. The crew seems like any other crew, only better armed. All well fed and healthy as far as I could see, discipline seems tight.” Summing up all he knew, Bilbo didn’t give Fili much hope. The dwarf shook his head. 

“The names…No, I haven’t heard them before either. But if this Bofur says he comes from the Iron Hills…” Fili didn’t know much about the Iron Hills. And even if he did, knowing the names of a few commoners, who had been pressed into service and then blackmailed into being pirates wouldn’t do him any good. It was interesting to know however, that there were dwarves among the crew who had not chosen their life as pirates freely, but had rather been forced by fate to safe their life. Maybe, just maybe, this could help them. 

“And the Captain didn’t say his name?” Fili repeated a question he had asked before, noticing that Bilbo shook his head even before the question was finished. “And nothing about their plans with us but that they want to exchange us for ransom?” he continued and Bilbo again shook his head. 

Leaning against the bars, Fili exhaled audibly. There was nothing for him and Bilbo to do now but wait and see what plans their captors had with them. At least they didn’t know who Fili really was. 

They sat in silence for a while, both lost in thought, when suddenly a loud rumbling noise broke through the quiet. Fili looked up and over at Bilbo and saw the hobbit rub his hand over his stomach. The loud rumble was repeated and Fili started to giggle. 

“Stop it!” Bilbo said. Fili didn’t know if the hobbit was talking to him or his own stomach and that made him giggle a bit harder.  
“Stop sniggering!” Bilbo demanded, causing the giggle Fili was really trying to suppress to turn into laughter. Another rumble, and suddenly Bilbo’s chuckles joined Fili’s and then they both laughed, till tears ran down their faces. 

“Well, bless me, I’ve never had such jolly prisoners.” Without them noticing, Bofur had come down to the hold, bringing with him another lamp and carrying another basket. The arrival of their gaoler sobered both Bilbo and Fili up immediately. 

“Oh please, don’t stop laughing on my account.” Bofur pleaded and he sounded actually sad that he apparently couldn’t join in their merriment. He hung up his lamp on a beam, depositing a basket he had been carrying on the ground and then walked over to their cells. 

“I see you have woken up again. Sleep well?” the dwarf asked, directing his question at Fili and the friendly voice compelled him to answer. 

“Sleep did me good. Thanks to your medicine, I gather.” He said and Bofur smiled, shaking his head in a modest way. 

“It was my brother’s medicine.” 

“Well, then give my most gracious thanks and compliments to your brother, sir.” Fili answered politely. 

Bofur nodded, the flaps of his strange hat moving up and down as he did. “I will.” Then he picked up the basket he had put down and carried it over to the cells.“I bring you food!” he announced happily and Bilbo and Fili, sharing a look between them, broke out in another fit of giggles. The happy look on Bofur’s face became one of confusion. “Come now, let me share in this jest! Or are you making a jest of me perchance?”

“Nono, forgive us.” Bilbo pleaded. “My friend and I just shared a laugh about my unruly stomach and now you bring us food! My laughter is of joy and not derision, I promise you.” 

The friendly face lit up again and Bofur reached pieces of bread and a bit of cheese through the bars. “Well, I’m sorry for the poor fair. The bread is a bit stale I’m afraid but at least there are no weevils in it.”

Both Fili and Bilbo thanked the dwarf politely for their food and the skin around his eyes crinkled as he produced a small jug with a smile “Don’t thank me for that. Thank me for the grog! Mind you, it’s rather weak, but the captain ordered that you should be treated with great care. Never had prisoners that got grog. You must be quite famous.” Fili didn’t particularly like the glint of sharp intelligence that shortly flickered in Bofur’s eyes. He might be nice to them, but he was their gaoler and would probably repeat everything they said to his captain. The young dwarf shrugged. “I guess I am just profiting from Dr. Baggins reputation.”

Bofur kept them company while they ate and drank, chatting merrily about this and that and Fili found it increasingly difficult to keep politely distanced. Something about the friendly and open face of their gaoler appealed greatly to Fili and he could tell by the way that Bilbo talked, much more slowly than normal and choosing his words very carefully, that he as well wasn’t immune to the pleasant charm of the dwarf. 

When they had finished their sparse meal, Bofur collected the jug, his basket and lamp and with a friendly wave left them again, his footsteps echoing in the hold.

“I’m worried.” Bilbo said after a while and Fili nodded without looking at him. “Me too.”

Maybe it was the renewed head injury or maybe it was still the medicine he had taken, but Fili felt exhausted and he didn’t even notice falling asleep. He dreamed of Kili, who shouted at him from the top of a cliff but he couldn’t make out the words and then something large loomed up behind Kili and Fili tried to warn him but he couldn’t make a sound and then there was a loud crash and Fili woke up, blinking in the dim light of the hold and trying to make sense of his surroundings. 

“Someone’s coming.” Bilbo whispered in the cell next to him and sure enough, the loud crash that Fili had heard was the sound of footsteps coming down the ladder and then along the hold to their cells. Judging from the noise it must be more than just one person and Fili’s assessment was proved right, when three dwarves stopped in front of their cells. Bofur was flanked by two enormous dwarves, both wearing neutral expressions while Bofur looked worried. 

“Hello lads. Sorry to disturb you again but the captain decided he’d like to see you now. Can you walk?” he asked Fili while he unlocked the cell. Fili got up from his pallet and nodded. His head still throbbed a bit but he was feeling fine otherwise. One of the two guards waved at him to step out of the cell and then immediately grabbed his left arm in a vicelike grip. His other arm was likewise grabbed by the other tall dwarf and they started moving Fili towards the ladder. 

“Bilbo!” Fili called, trying to look over his shoulder which earned him a very hard slap to the back of his head, that made the dull pain erupt with renewed sharpness.

“Don’t hit him on the head!” Bilbo shouted from somewhere behind Fili. “He’s been injured and if you keep hitting him he could die! I bet your captain would not be pleased about that.” 

The dwarf on Fili’s right only growled in answer. They arrived at the stairs and one of his guards let go of Fili, the other tightening his grip. “You climb up there after me and don’t you dare try anything or your little friend gets it.” The dwarf jerked his head over his shoulder and Fili, following the movement, saw a very pale Bilbo standing next to Bofur, who held the hobbit by the arm with one hand, a large knife in the other and looked rather unhappy. 

Somehow Fili knew that Bofur would not hurt the hobbit but that knowledge didn’t help him in the least. So he meekly followed the dwarf up the ladder and then up the next and the next till they arrived on deck. 

Since Fili had been unconscious and then sleeping, he had lost track of time but now he saw that it was already evening. The sun had started to set, casting a fierce red light over the horizon and shining right into Fili’s eyes. Against the blaze of light he could make out a large mass of people that had assembled on deck, it looked like the whole crew stood in almost complete silence, watching Fili and Bilbo being dragged on deck. Cold fear gripped him. Why would they assemble the whole crew just so the captain could look at two prisoners? Or was this not the sole reason why they had been dragged from the hold? Maybe they were going to be flogged, or worse, executed. Fili didn’t know much about pirates but he knew that they were brutal and ruthless. Any captain needed to keep discipline on his ship but a pirate captain even more so. Maybe he was going to use Bilbo and Fili to show his absolute power? 

Fili felt himself be pushed from behind and stumbled forward, almost losing his footing. He won the fight with gravity and straightened up again, only to blink in the light of the setting sun, shining brightly into his eyes and blinding him. And then there was a voice from the dark mass of sailors saying “Fili?” 

Fili’s eyes snapped to the dwarves standing in an unorderly mass, searching for the one who had just spoken but he couldn’t make out faces against the light. He had the feeling he had heard the voice before. “Is that really you, Fili?” the voice said again and a form parted from the mass of dwarves, stepping forward. 

Fili blinked into the light, shielding his eyes with one hand and could finally make out the contours of a face. But this could not be. It was impossible. He was dead. He had been dead for years. Fili had been sure he must be dead. But apparently he wasn’t. “Fili!” the dwarf said stepping closer again and now Fili could see his face properly. His own went slack as his mind came to a complete standstill. The dwarf standing a few feet away was small like him, with wild blond hair that had almost been bleached white by salty water and sun. He looked older than Fili remembered him, his skin dark and leathery from the sun and with deep wrinkles around the eyes. But his smile was the one Fili remembered, his eyes the same colour and shape as Fili’s own. 

Fili took a step forward and the dwarf opened his arms and suddenly Fili was a little dwarfling again, who had waited all day for his papa to come home and without thinking he rushed forward, closing the few remaining steps between himself and his father and embraced the older dwarf. But as soon as they hugged, the moment passed and Fili was grown again and he knew that this was wrong. This dwarf he was hugging was not the father that had picked him up and carried him inside, listening to his little stories of the day. He didn’t smell of costly sandlewood and of tobacco and the tiniest hint of mama’s roseoil. He was a stranger who smelled of old, sour sweat, of tar and mould. His father had gone, leaving them all behind. Leaving Dis to grieve over a husband she didn’t even know was dead or alive. Leaving little Kili, who for almost a year asked Fili every evening when their father would return. Leaving Fili, unable to console his mother in her heartache, unable to explain to Kili that their father would not come back, feeling hurt and betrayed himself. Anger he had not felt in years suddenly rushed through Fili and he pushed his shoulder roughly into the other dwarf, who let go of him and staggered back, a look of surprise on his face. And then Fili pushed him to the ground and was onto him like a hawk, slamming his fists into the surprised face of his father. 

“You bastard!” Fili screamed and beat his fists down into the dwarf under him, not caring what and how hard he hit. “You bastard! You bloody bastard. I’ll kill you.” His voice was a screech in his own ears as he continued to pummel his father. The other dwarf didn’t fight back, he didn’t even really defend himself, he only tried to raise his arms to shield his face against the fists of his son. 

The sailors standing around had been taken by surprise and it took them a few moments to react. And then it took three large dwarves to pull Fili away from his father and they were panting with the strain when they finally managed to hurl him away. 

Fili’s father sat up, blood trickling down his chin from a cut in his lip and his left eye was rapidly swelling shut. 

“Well, well, now this is your son, Swidi?” a voice said and all noise died down immediately as a dwarf stepped down from the quarterdeck, a dull, thumping noise echoing hollowly on his every other step. The crowd of sailors parted and let him through and he walked till he stood next to Swidi, but curiously eyeing Fili who was still being held back by two large sailors.

Swidi wiped the blood from his chin and laboriously got up from the ground, groaning slightly. 

“Yes.” He said, carefully feeling his jaw. 

“Are you sure?” the other dwarf said, still eyeing Fili with sharp eyes. 

“Yes. He has changed quite a bit. Kili was always the wild one and Fili a gentle child, but seems to me he is all grown up now. But I knew the moment I saw him being heaved on deck. He’s my son. No doubt about it.” Swidi said, not meeting Fili’s eye.

The other dwarf nodded, scrutinizing Fili. “Yes, I think you are right. He’s got your eyes and colouring but other than that he looks a lot like Dis.” 

“How dare you take my mother’s name in your filthy mouth!” Fili shouted and received a hit in the kidneys for that, sending him to his knees in breathless pain.

“Tsts, how brash this young one is.” The dwarf said, chuckling softly. “Do you know who I am, boy?” he asked. 

Fili looked up from where he had sunk down to his knees, panting through the pain. The dwarf in front of him wasn’t tall, not more than half a hand taller than him, but much wider. He had thickly muscled arms, shoulders so broad that it almost looked un-proportioned to his height, long dark brown hair tightly wound into a plait and a beard of equally dark colour, braided in many small braids decorated with small mithril beads, shining like drops of water on their ebony background. “Yes.” Fili answered. “I know who you are.” And indeed he did. Because the thing that made the dwarf stand out from anybody else on this ship was his artificial leg, a leg that ended in an iron foot. 

“And who am I?” the dwarf said, amusement colouring his deep voice as he leaned down closer to Fili. 

“You’re Dain Ironfoot, a traitor and a pirate and I will see you hanged.” Fili answered and spat at Dain’s feet. The pirate nodded appreciatively and then something hard hit Fili in the soft flesh between shoulder and neck and the last thing he saw before he dropped to the deck unconscious, Bilbo’s shrill scream of outrage in his ears, were the dark eyes of the dwarf in front of him, boring into his own.

When Fili next came to he was chained to a wooden pole in his dimly lit cell in the hull of the ship. Fili’s head hurt, his neck hurt, actually his whole body hurt. As he became aware of his surroundings, Fili noticed that somebody was there in the gloom with him, squatting next to him. 

“Poor lad.” A voice said and then Fili could feel something cool brushing against his eyebrow, which he just noticed was throbbing in pain. “You seem to have bad luck with your head it seems. You fell flat on your face when they knocked you out. Split your eyebrow. Your friend was livid. Almost hit the captain.” The voice went on and Fili numbly realised that it was the voice of Bofur. It felt like a great effort, but Fili managed to look at the dwarf next to him. 

“What…” he managed to say, as the worried face of the dwarf swam in and out of focus. 

“You’re back in your cell, but they put your friend somewhere else.” Bofur explained, carefully dabbing at Fili’s face with a wet cloth. “I…you’re a much more valuable prisoner than we thought, so you’ll be kept separate now. When Swidi told the captain…When the captain realised who you were…” Bofur sounded strange, breaking off in the middle of what he was saying and concentrating on carefully wiping at Fili’s face. 

"Are you really Swidi's son?" Bofur asked after a while and rinsed the piece of cloth. "You don't look that much like him. Apart from the hair and eyes." The cloth came back up to continue brushing against Fili's face. The contact with the rough rag wasn't particularly pleasant but the coldness of the wet fabric made up for that. Fili did not answer the question, concentrating on getting his brain to start working properly again. He remembered seeing his father, remembered hugging and then beating him, remembered his faithless father giving away his own sons identity to an infamous pirate. He groaned and Bofur snatched his hand away from his face.

“Sorry laddy, did I hurt you there?” he asked, his voice full of worry. 

“No. I…what?” Fili asked, confused by the friendly demeanour of the pirate. 

“You’ve got blood all over your face.” Bofur explained gently and started to wipe again. “You look a right fright. And your friend was really worried. I promised him that I’d try and make sure that you are alright.”

Fili thought for a moment and then it dawned on him which friend Bofur was talking about. “Bilbo!” he said and started to struggle against the chains that had been fastened to his hands and around the wooden pole in the cell. 

“Ssssh! Don’t do that!” Bofur told him, snatching the piece of cloth back from his face again for fear of accidently brushing to hard against the wound as Fili fidgeted around. “The little one is alright. The captain admires his spirit and has not punished him for his behaviour. He’s locked up in the bosun’s cabin now.”

The struggle against his bonds didn’t do anything except give Fili a few sores on his wrists and he stopped it again, leaning back against the pole exhausted. Bofur made a noise of sympathy, washing the piece of cloth in a small bowl and then applying it to Fili’s face once more. “That’s better. It won’t do you no good to rattle your chains. You’re very valuable for the captain and he won’t hurt either of you if you don’t give him reason.” The dwarf said. The cloth disappeared and then Fili could feel something cold and sticky being applied to the cut on his brow. It stung a bit and he recoiled slightly from the unexpected pain.

“Sssh, it’s alright, laddie. Just some salve I got from my brother. It’s mainly grease but it’ll help keep the wound clean.” Bofur told him and put some more of the salve in Fili’s face with gentle fingers. Fili waited for him to finish, now being able to focus and watching the solemn face under the floppy hat. 

“Why are you doing this?” he asked when Bofur had finished and was eying his work critically. 

“Doing what, laddie?” the other dwarf asked, his gaze trained on the wound and not looking at Fili’s searching eyes.

“Caring for my wound? Telling me Bilbo is alright? Being kind?” Fili asked suspiciously. Bofur had been surprisingly friendly before, but Fili couldn’t help but suspect that the dwarf had an ulterior motive. After all, the pirates now knew that Fili was not who Bilbo had pretended he was, a simple officer of his royal majesties navy, but nephew to the crown prince and his heir. If they got away somehow, they would be in Bofur’s debt and if they didn’t and were indeed exchanged for ransom, it was probably good if the prisoners were in good shape.

Bofur shrugged, the flaps of his hat dancing as he moved. “It’s what I do. I care for the prisoners. All of them. Royalty or not. Come on, have a sip of water.” He reached a cup to Fili’s lips and helped him drink. 

“So, what’s in it for you?” Fili asked when he had swallowed. He hadn’t meant to ask the question, but it came out and rather forcefully and with a tone of accusation.  
Bofur sighed sadly. “Nothing, laddie.”

Fili scoffed. “Of course not.” 

Bofur got up from his squat with a small groan and popping joints. “It’s the job I’ve been given and I do it best I know how. What I get from it? Same as everybody gets from their jobs. Food in my belly and a place to sleep. And the satisfaction of making the life of another living being a bit easier. I might be a pirate but that doesn’t mean that I’m a bad person.” He finally looked at Fili and there was no smile on his face now, only a sort of tired resignation. 

Remembering what Bilbo had told him about their gaoler, that he had been pressed into service and then picked up by pirates, Fili looked at the dwarf with a glint of hope. “Then help us. Open my shackles. Help us escape.”

For a moment there was uncertainty on Bofur’s face and Fili thought he would actually do it. But then he shook his head. “I can’t laddie. I think you are a nice one and very brave, how you stood up to the captain and all. And that strange little friend of yours as well. But if I help you, they’ll kill not only me but my brother as well. And he’s got a wife and a hoard of kids waiting for him at home that he wants to see again someday. I’m really sorry, but I can’t.”

They looked at each other for a few moments and then Bofur sighed. “I’m going now. I’ll tell your friend that you’re alright.” And with that he left the cell. The keys rattled in the lock and then his footsteps moved away, along the hold and up the ladder and Fili was left alone in the gloom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, anyone who guessed that Dain might be the pirate captain? 
> 
> The name I picked for Fili's and Kili's father, Swidi, comes from the Dvergatal in the Völuspa, that's where Tolkien got his dwarf names from. 'Swid' means something like 'the one who disappears', which he did in my story. I like the idea of aptronyms (speaking names) so I chose this one because it fits with how I planned his character.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't believe I'm actually posting this chapter! I've been looking forward to writing this one very much. I guess it will become clear why when you read it and are familiar with the irst original 'Master and Commander' novel.  
> Hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> Unbetaed, so if you see mistakes, please let me know!
> 
> Bell pattern!
> 
> Number of bells | Bell pattern | Middle watch | Morning watch | Forenoon watch | Afternoon watch | First dog watch | Last dog watch | First watch  
> ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
> One bell | . | 0:30 | 4:30 | 8:30 | 12:30 | 16:30 |  | 20:30  
> Two bells | .. | 1:00 | 5:00 | 9:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 |  | 21:00  
> Three bells | .. . | 1:30 | 5:30 | 9:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |  | 21:30  
> Four bells | .. .. | 2:00 | 6:00 | 10:00 | 14:00 | 18:00 |  | 22:00  
> Five bells | .. .. . | 2:30 | 6:30 | 10:30 | 14:30 |  | 18:30 | 22:30  
> Six bells | .. .. .. | 3:00 | 7:00 | 11:00 | 15:00 |  | 19:00 | 23:00  
> Seven bells | .. .. .. . | 3:30 | 7:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 |  | 19:30 | 23:30  
> Eight bells | .. .. .. .. | 4:00 | 8:00 | 12:00 | 16:00 |  | 20:00 | 00:00  
  
Making rounds and rounds in the tiny cabin Bilbo had been locked into, the hobbit tried to get rid of his worry through moving his feet. It didn’t really work and the fact that he couldn’t leave the small wooden box that was his new prison made Bilbo feel claustrophobic. The cabin had a canvas chair, a small writing desk and a comfortable hammock, so all in all it was much more luxurious than the cell in the hold. But he would have gladly exchanged that for knowing how Fili was. 

The dwarf who had knocked him out had been careful not to hit Fili on the head after being warned by Bilbo about that. But Fili had still banged his head on the planks and the last thing Bilbo had seen of him, when the dwarf had been more dragged than carried below deck again was his pale face covered in the blood flowing from a cut on his brow. Again he had let Fili get hurt. He had failed Thorin again. If only the boy was alright.

Bilbo slumped down into the canvas chair, only to jump up again as he heard a rattle on his door, which opened to reveal Bofur. Almost throwing himself at the dwarf, Bilbo asked desperately “Is he alright?!”

The dwarf nodded, but looked very unhappy. Surely something was wrong. It had to be, judging from the look on Bofur’s face. “Please, tell me!” Bilbo begged, his hands grabbing at the lapels of Bofur’s coat. 

“He is awake and lucid. The wound isn’t bad. I washed away the blood and it was already closing.” Bofur told him and Bilbo sagged in relief. He let his head fall forward against the dwarf’s chest and held on to the coat, because he would otherwise surely have fallen down, his knees felt so weak. After a moment he felt a hesitant patting on his back and he drew back. He could not let himself be comforted by somebody who, for all his friendly demeanour, was not his friend. 

“Was he feeling sick? Any signs of nausea?” Bilbo asked and Bofur shock his head. “He seemed to be alright. A bit disorientated when he came to, but that faded quickly.”

“I…I thank you very much Bofur. I’m glad to hear that he is alright.” Bilbo said and stepped back from the dwarf, straightening his vest. 

Bofur shook his head, the flaps of his hat drooping in a way that made the inanimate object look sad. “Nothing to thank me for. It’s my job to look after the prisoners.”  
Bilbo pursed his lips shortly and nodded. “Yes, of course.”

The silence in the room was heavy and Bilbo wished he could have said more, asked more, but through the open door he could see other dwarves standing in the hall of the lower deck. Anything he said would be reported to the captain, Bilbo was sure of that. 

“Well then, I’ll be going.” Bofur said, but didn’t instantly move. He stood for a few more moments, obviously thinking about something else to say, because he opened and closed his mouth for a few times. But then, after a look over his shoulder, he made a grimace that was obviously meant to be a smile and then left the cabin. The door closed behind his back and then Bilbo could hear the bolt being pushed and the rattle of keys on the lock. 

He returned to the chair again and sat down heavily. 

All the excitement and worry of the last day seemed to take their toll now. Bilbo felt almost sick with exhaustion. But he couldn’t allow himself to sleep now, he had to think first. His greatest worry, that Fili was gravely injured, had been put to rest. Not entirely, he still worried about the dwarf, but he trusted Bofur to have given him a truthful account of Fili’s state. He was a very valuable prisoner after all and Bilbo was sure that Dain would make sure that he would be looked after properly. 

With that Bilbo’s thoughts turned to the pirate captain. Dain Ironfoot. He wondered why he hadn’t realised who the dwarf was. Of course, when Bilbo had first seen him, the dwarf had been sitting behind a desk, the foot that would have given away his identity beyond a doubt had been hidden. Nevertheless, there weren’t many known cases of highborn nobles that had gone rogue. And Bilbo had noticed the educated speech when he had talked with the dwarf, had indeed wondered about it. But still he hadn’t thought about the possibility that he had been taken by one of the most infamous pirates of the age. Rubbing his tired eyes, Bilbo tried to remember what he knew about Dain.

Before he became a pirate, Dain Ironfoot had gained quite a reputation even among the other dwarf kingdoms and Bilbo knew the stories. Dain was one of four nephews of the king of the Iron Hills, but had been favoured by his childless uncle. Raised at court, Dain had shown great promise as a child and even spent some time in Erebor, where he and his cousins had been send for a year and educated along with the kings grandchildren, Thorin, Frerin and Dis. Thorin had sometimes talked of those days, shaking his head with a look of sad amazement, because the young dwarf he had known then had turned out so differently. 

Dain had returned to the Iron Hills and became a fierce warrior, though also showed himself a shrewd negotiator in politics. He was still considered by most to be the next in line of throne, even when he lost his foot in an accident that almost killed him. But then a shocking plot to kill the king had been uncovered and Dain, unlikely as it seemed, had been heavily involved. Although he claimed his innocence, the evidence was heavy against him and the king, weighed down with grief, had him thrown into prison. The king died not long after that, having declared one of Dain’s cousins heir to the throne. 

It never really got out how Dain had managed to escape. The prisons in the Iron Hills were famous for being the safest in Middleearth. But escape he did and the next thing that was heard of him was that he had taken to the sea and become a pirate. And as time showed, a very successful pirate.

Bilbo sighed. All this was common knowledge. And nothing about this could help in their current situation. Even the fact that Thorin and Dain had been friends as children wouldn’t help him much. Thorin had talked about his old childhood friend sometimes. Dain had been a good friend to Thorin when he had lived in Erebor. They were about the same age, both of them quite serious boys, keen on their studies and training. If he hadn’t gone on to plot against his uncle, Dain would have been king now. 

Cradling his head in his hands, Bilbo wondered if any of this would help him. Probably not. Dain might have been a friend of Thorin when they were children, but he had since then plotted to kill his own uncle and king and spend years as a pirate captain, a scourge of the sea. He probably now resented the dwarf who had grown up to have what had been denied to himself due to his actions. But who knew. He had mentioned the Lady Dis when he had seen Fili. Maybe there was still some affection left for the Durins. 

And this lead him to think about Fili’s father. Bilbo had never met Swidi, since the dwarf had already been gone from court when Bilbo had first met Thorin. The only thing Bilbo knew about him was, that he had simply disappeared one day and had never been heard from again. Everybody assumed he must have died. The fact that he lived would come as a great shock to Thorin. It had been a great shock to Fili. His pained look of incredulousness and surprise had burned itself into Bilbo’s mind, who couldn’t even come close to imagining, what it must have felt like for Fili to see his long lost father again and then realise that he had perfidiously given away his own son’s secret identity to the enemy. Could a father who did such a thing be approached for help? Probably not. But Bilbo didn’t want to rule Swidi out entirely as possible ally. The best chances to get help was in all likelihood Bofur but he was a doubtful case as well. 

If they could manage to escape, they would have to rely on themselves. Their chances were very slim indeed. 

Bilbo didn’t easily give in to despair and he didn’t do that now either. If they could not escape on their own and if Thorin couldn’t somehow free them, it would be in Dain’s best interest to exchange them unharmed for a considerable sum of gold. 

Bilbo’s thoughts were starting to turn woolly. He was so tired, that he was almost sliding of his chair, only willpower holding him up. It was no good, he had to sleep. Dragging his tired body the small step from the chair to the hammock seemed like a gargantuan task but he managed it. Almost as soon as he was lying down, he was fast asleep. And Bilbo dreamed. He dreamed of Fili’s pale, bloodstreaked face, of Bofur looking at him with sad eyes, of Fili’s father standing by while his son was beaten. And then he dreamed of Thorin. Thorin’s smiling face. 

When he woke up again he couldn’t really remember what he had dreamed about. Something about Thorin and a concert, Bilbo’s still sleep muddled brain tried to make sense of that. The practice of years at sea had woken him up at the toll of five bells in the morning and he had swung his legs out of the hammock and walked over to the small canvas washing basin almost automatically, before he noticed that his basin wasn’t were it should be and Bilbo realised where he was. 

Raking a hand through his curls, Bilbo looked around his cabin and then, when he found nothing to do, sat down on the small chair, trying to chase the last tendrils of the dream. 

Thorin. A concert. And then he remembered. He had dreamed about the first time he and Thorin had met. It had indeed not been the happiest first meeting in the world and a rather awkward starting point for a friendship, but when Bilbo thought about the day so many years ago, he remembered the encounter with fondness. 

And now, without fail, the memory brought a smile to his face, even as he sat as a prisoner on a pirate ship. He could picture the whole scene so clearly in his mind as if he was there. 

The large reception room in the villa of some admiral, packed with people till it was almost bursting. The heat of the crowded room. The relief when he caught the light breeze wafting in through the great doors that had been flung open because of the sad press the event was proving to be. His annoyance at the people talking through the first half of the concert.

Bilbo had kind of stranded at the port a few weeks ago after leaving his last employer. Having small needs and a rather big saving account, Bilbo had no need for money at the time, but having much time and nothing to do with it had set him on edge. The concert had been a welcome distraction. And a distraction it proved to be. Not only was the room terribly crowded; it’s vast proportions seemed not enough to hold all the people and all the grandeur of the gilded furniture, the glittering mirrors on the wall and the elegant curtains, seemed kind of lost in the press of the crowd. Still Bilbo had managed to find a seat on one of the rather delicate looking chairs for the second half of the concert, when the more frivolous of the attending people had already left the room for tea on the lawn. Bilbo had bowed to the sailor, a dwarf, who had taken the seat next to him and then not spared him another glance. That was until the second movement started. The first movement had been a quiet one and the musicians, a quartet made up from two men and two dwarves, had played it with much feeling. Bilbo had managed to lose himself completely in the soft, yearning melody, the harmonies resonating in his heart and reminding him strangely of the Shire. But then the second movement had started and from there things had started to progressively get worse. 

After a few minutes Bilbo noticed that the dwarf next to him had started to fidget in his chair. Nervous listeners in a concert were nothing new to Bilbo, so he tried to ignore the twitching. But the dwarf proceeded to jerk and fidgeted all through the second movement and Bilbo started to shoot him annoyed glances from the side, really looking at his neighbour for the first time. The dwarf was tall for his race, with a dark beard cropped short to his strong jaw. Like many sailors, he didn’t wear a wig and his long dark hair was tied back in a simple plait over his back. His profile was rather sharp, with a long nose and heavy eyebrows that were now apparently pulled together in a frown as he stared over the heads of the people in front of him to the front of the room, where the quartet was sitting in a half circle facing the audience. 

Unsurprising in the villa of an admiral, the audience consisted of a mixture of rich citizens of the port city and sailors from almost all command ranks. While the townsmen and especially their wives and daughter all wore colourful fancy clothing, most of the sailors wore uniforms. The dwarf next to Bilbo was also wearing a navy dress uniform, consisting of the typical white breeches, white silk stockings, a white shirt under a cream coloured vest and a deep blue coat with shining epaulettes on the shoulders. 

Although Bilbo didn’t look like the foppish young townspeople, all decked out in colourful, shining silks, he knew he could not have looked more unlike the sailor. He was dressed in an old coat that had once been black. It was well kept however, despite its age and showed no tears or patches. The white shirt and black trousers he wore with the coat were as unremarkable as the coat. His vest however was a small extravagancy. It was made of heavy yellow brocade and it was Bilbo’s second favourite vest, the colour reminding him of the wheat glowing golden in the summer sun of the Shire. Bilbo had never bothered with wigs or hats, so his hair was hanging in slightly too long and unkempt curls around his ears. 

The sailor wasn’t wearing a hat inside obviously, but he had brought it with him. He was balancing the rather battered tricorn on a knee that was now constantly jerking up and down. Almost despite himself Bilbo kept looking at the dwarf out of the corner of his eye and the constant movement just on the edge of his vision started to make himself nervous. He could hardly listen to the music anymore. 

And then the third movement had started and Bilbo felt his blood pressure rising in anger as  
the dwarf next to him started to beat the tact with a large fist on the knee that wasn’t covered by his hat. At first the action was rather subdued, as if the dwarf was still holding himself back. But as the music surged and swelled, the speed and intensity of the melody picking up, he seemed to lose his inhibition. Bilbo had given up listening to the music and just glared at the dwarf, who was so lost in the music that he apparently didn’t notice that he was beating the tact and jostling his neighbour in the process. 

Bilbo’s anger finally boiled over when the dwarf, just as the third movement ended and the fourth was about to start, turned to him and said “Wonderfully played, don’t you think, sir?” Bilbo looked the dwarf directly in the face. He was smiling and fixing Bilbo with eyes of a clear, blue colour. For a moment Bilbo was nonplussed by the friendly demeanour, but then he whispered angrily. “If you really must beat the measure sir, let me entreat you to do so in time, and not half a beat ahead.” 

The dwarf’s expression changed from his friendly smile to a nonplussed expression and Bilbo turned away from him to listen to the fourth movement with a viscous sort of contentment. That would hopefully calm the dratted dwarf down. And for a while it seemed to have worked. Not a twitch disturbed Bilbo during the fourth movement and then the lady of the house played a beautiful little piece on a harp, with much emotion and virtuosity. Then the quartet took the chairs again and started on another piece. The first movement flowed through the air and Bilbo had all but forgotten about the dwarf and lost himself in the music again. His heart swelled with the sweet music, he closed his eyes and thought about his home. He wasn’t in the crowded room in this seaport anymore but strolling around the little lanes of the Shire, the green hills and blue sky, dotted with white clouds, it was all there. But then, as the second movement commenced, a small but insistent noise yanked Bilbo out of his day dream again. He looked over at the dwarf and, yes, he was indeed huffing under his breath in time with the bass line of the cello, “Pom-pom-pom, pom, pom-pom-pom, pom.” the dwarf went. 

Bilbo stared at the profile of the dwarf in silent outrage. He had his eyes closed, chin sunk down to his chest, a small smile playing on his lips and along with the humming, his hand was again beating the tact, not on his knee but in the air. But then, the music swelled, a dramatic moment drawing close, the hand in the air was twitching and moving and then, in a sweep, went down on the knee again, underlining the cello along with the mutter. Not being able to hold himself back any longer, Bilbo elbowed the dwarf sharply in the ribs and hissed: “Ssssssh!” at him. The dwarf froze in his movement and then let the hand that had been beating the measure sink down to his knee again. For the rest of the concert he kept very still, sitting unnaturally straight in his chair next to Bilbo. 

When the piece ended, the audience erupted in applause, the sound rising and falling like a storm for several minutes and Bilbo started clapping along, as did the dwarf, who seemed to have come out of some sort of rigour when the music ended and moved again. They both stood up at the same time and Bilbo could now see that the dwarf was at least a head taller than him. They had looked at each other, silently for a while and then the dwarf said in a low voice, that nevertheless carried undoubted dislike: “My name is Durin, sir: I am staying at the Crown.”  
While Bilbo wasn’t fond of duels, he was not one to shirk a challenge like that. He was a rather good shot and he knew that sailors sometimes had trouble with their aim when shooting on land. So his voice waivered not a bit when he answered: “Mine, sir, is Baggins. I am to be found any morning at Teleporno’s coffee house. May I beg you to stand aside now?”

A twitch in the dwarf’s cheek had told Bilbo that he would probably have loved to pick him up and throw him out of the window. Or possible take the small chairs they had been sitting on and crashed it over his head. He did neither, but instead let Bilbo pass with a dark stare.

Bilbo had gone back to his small room in an inexpensive inn, still wondering about the strange behaviour of the dwarf and replaying the whole scenario in his head. By the time he went to bed in the evening, Bilbo felt that he had not behaved very kindly towards the sailor. Clearly the dwarf had been moved deeply by the music, something that Bilbo could understand very well, and he should have had more patience. It had been a rather good and clever little quartet and it’s performance merited a little bit of excitement. 

So the next morning, when Bilbo was hailed by the dwarf as he walked to the coffee house where he usually had his breakfast, he was by no means angry at him anymore. And the dwarf’s demeanour seemed to have changed over night as well. As he shoot out of the shop of a naval outfitter, he was looking excited and a bright smile was making his eyes shine. “Mr...Mr Baggins!” he called after Bilbo and then went on to apologize profusely for his behaviour the night before. 

Bilbo replied in kind, begging forgiveness for his own harshness and then invited the dwarf for a bite of breakfast to the coffee house he had been about to enter. It was like their encounter the other night had not happened. 

When Bilbo ordered a pot of hot, whipped chocolate in the elvish tongue, the sailor had looked at him with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. They had proceeded to talk about languages, music and from there turned to their own instruments, realising with delight that both of them played. It had been a while since Bilbo had enjoyed a conversation this much, so when the dwarf had to take his leave he was slightly disappointed. But the disappointment hadn’t lasted long. He had been invited to dinner and there they had continued to talk.

Thorin had divulged that he had just received his first posting as a captain and Bilbo had congratulated him with all his heart. When the newly posted captain had heard that Bilbo was a physician and not in anybody’s employ at the moment, he offered Bilbo the post of ship’s surgeon and, surprising himself, Bilbo had accepted the post.

This had been the start of their friendship and a strange start for a friendship it had been. But despite their unfavourable first meeting Bilbo and Thorin had gotten on very well since then. Of course, they argued with each other sometimes and as Bilbo dragged himself back from his reverie he remembered the bad fight they had just had. And felt guilty. 

He knew Thorin had done what he could for him and that he was indeed not free to do with the ship as he pleased. 

Would Thorin forgive him for his behaviour? Or would the fact, that Bilbo had not been able to keep Fili out of harm’s way, that he had sent Nyr into unknown dangers alone, prevent Thorin from ever talking to him as a friend again? Shaking himself, Bilbo got up from the small chair. It wouldn’t help in the least now to worry about Thorin’s reaction. He couldn’t change the past. But he might do something about their dire situation, if only he got his wits together and concentrated on the task that now lay before him. 

He listened to the noises of the ship. Sailors scrambling up and down the stairs, ropes being pulled over the planks, pulleys squeaking as the sails were raised and aligned. It was by now almost six bells in the morning watch and the sun must be far up. From what Bilbo had seen, the watches on the pirate ship didn’t differ from the watches on any ship of the navy he had sailed on. The groups changed every four hours and as long as there was no pressing need to have all hands on deck, the watch teams that were not needed for sailing went under deck to sleep or do whatever they could think of to pass the time. The weather was pleasant, only a light wind blowing and the sea was calm. A day of smooth sailing lay ahead of them. If Bilbo had seen correctly last evening when Fili and him had been carried on deck, they were still sailing along the coast of the Island where he had been picked up and would probably do so for the rest of the day. 

If Bilbo remembered the charts correctly, the island was narrow but long and at it’s end lay a couple of other, much smaller islands, that were too close together to allow passing between them and had to be sailed around as well. 

It was hard to tell from inside the ship, but experience told Bilbo that they were sailing at a rather leisurely pace. The sounds from above told him, that the positions of the sails were constantly rearranged to catch most of the wind. Dain obviously wanted to get away from here as fast as possible while the wind was not entirely in his favour. So he didn’t want to negotiate directly with Thorin for their ransom and release, but rather take this up with the governors of one of the colonies. The pirate wouldn’t dare sail close to the harbours of Erebor or any other of the dwarfish kingdoms, but he needed to get closer to civilisation again. 

There were a few colonies on the larger islands farther west from the Shell Islands and that seemed to be the direction in which they were now sailing. Bilbo suspected that the pirates were going to try and exchange them there. This boded well for their speedy release. Unless things happened on the way. 

Since Bilbo was a privateer, he wasn’t privy to all the orders that Thorin was carrying. Indeed, not even Thorin’s officers knew the exact contents of every order issued to their Captain by the office of war. Maybe he could give chase to pirates when he met them and abandon the chase of the black ship. If that was so, it wasn’t unlikely that the Orcrist could catch up with them. She was a fast ship. And if the Orcrist caught up, there was surely going to be a fight. Bilbo did not like the thought of that and not just because he was on the ship that was going to be attacked by the Orcrist. If there was to be a fight, it would happen soon, probably in the next two days. That wasn’t much time to gather more information about Dain and that was what Bilbo had just realised he should be doing. 

Dain’s fall from grace had always intrigued Bilbo and after having met the dwarf, he was even more interested in uncovering some of his secrets. It had always seemed very strange that Dain would try and usurp a throne through murder, when he would only have had to wait a few years to gain it legally. And this behaviour also didn’t fit with the way Thorin had always talked about the dwarf. 

So Bilbo set himself two goals for the day. Try and get to talk to Dain to find out more about him and, if possible, try to find a way for Fili and him to escape.

The first thing was easier than he would have thought. Shortly after two bells in the forenoon watch a sailor that Bilbo had not seen before came to his cabin with a tray, carrying food and drink for Bilbo. The sailor stayed mute to Bilbo’s request to speak to the captain, he did indeed not react at all when Bilbo asked him, but he must have talked to Dain, because at seven bells the cabin door opened again and the silent dwarf beckoned Bilbo to follow him. He lead Bilbo to the great cabin and then inside. Dain was sitting at his desk again, the red curtains behind him drawn back today to let in the brilliant light of the sun reflected on the water. The green walls of the cabin didn’t look so intimidating today, their rich colour reminded Bilbo of the lush meadows of the Shire in late spring.

“Good day to you, Dr Baggins. I’ve heard that you wanted to speak to me?” Dain said, not looking up from the paper he was writing on. 

“Yes, Captain Dain. Thank you for granting me this interview.” Bilbo answered politely. At his gentle tone Dain looked up, raising an amused eyebrow. “I see you are in a much more peaceful mood today. Not likely to try and strangle me again, are you Doctor?” 

Bilbo looked down at his toes. He wasn’t exactly ashamed for trying to get at the pirate yesterday. It was Dain’s fault that Fili had been hit again and Bilbo thought he deserved a good smack on the face for that. But he wanted something from the dwarf now and he knew he wouldn’t get far with violence and screaming. “No,” he said, looking up and shaking his head “and I want to apologize for my behaviour. I’m afraid I overreacted a little out of concern for my young friend.” 

Dain nodded and carefully put away the quill with which he had been writing. “I think we can dispense with the guard then.” With a wave Dain send the dwarf who had come to get Bilbo from his cell away.

“Please take a seat, Doctor.” Dain said politely and motioned to a chair to the side of his desk. 

“Thank you, how very kind.” Bilbo answered and sat.

“Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company? I assume you haven’t just come round to chat?” Dain smiled openly at Bilbo, but Bilbo wasn’t fooled by the friendly demeanour. The dwarf was on his guard and so was Bilbo. 

“Well, I wanted to apologize for my outbreak. And I wanted to ask if I could be allowed to have a look at my young friend again.” 

The pleasant smile broadened as Dain leaned back. “Your young friend, who happens to be in direct line to the throne of Erebor. Fili Durin, nephew of Thorin Oakenshield. Son of Dis. And Swidi. No, my dear doctor, I’m afraid I can’t allow you to see him. But I assure you he is well. I have talked to him just now and he was quite ... lively. Strong opinions he has. He is a real Durin.” 

If he could have had his own way, Bilbo would have loved to slap the friendly smile of Dain’s face. It was a test of mental strength to stay calm and friendly, but Bilbo had a lot of practice. “That may well be, but head injuries are tricky. He might seem fine now, but if he sustained a trauma he could fall into coma spontaneously. Especially if he has been agitated.” In truth Bilbo doubted that Fili was this bad off. If Bofur’s account was correct, Fili had been talking lucidly and if he was feeling well enough to get lippy with Dain, then he must be alright. He still wanted to see him and if exaggerating a little was the way to that goal, than Bilbo was prepared to do it. To add a bit of emphasis he started to wring his hands a bit, like he couldn’t contain his worry otherwise. 

Dain pursed his lips and looked at Bilbo closely. “You have to understand, Dr Baggins, that I have to be very careful with this prisoner. Not only is he a lieutenant of Erebor’s navy, he’s a Durin. If I give him an opportunity to do something about his situation, he’ll take it.”

Faking a look of indignation, Bilbo frowned at Dain. “I don’t know how letting me examine him would create an opportunity for him to escape. I’m a physician, not a soldier and you could send a few guards along to keep watch on us. All I want to do is look at him and treat him if necessary. And it must be in your interest to keep him alive.”

Dain scoffed. “He is alive. Very much so, as I said.” he kept looking at Bilbo, who tried to look worried and harmless at the same time. 

“He is injured and my responsibility.” Bilbo persisted, leaning forward and speaking earnestly. 

“I’ll think about it.” Dain answered. 

“Then it might be too late.” Bilbo exclaimed, wringing his hands a bit more. He wanted Dain to think that he was a bit dramatic and fussy and generally not a danger. 

Shaking his head, Dain sighed. “Well then, if you must. But there will be guards with you all the time and I assure you that every word you say will be reported to me. If I hear anything that gives me reason to believe you are using this to plot something, you won’t like the consequences.”

Dain’s voice had taken a sharp tone and Bilbo didn’t doubt his word. Pretending to not care about anything but his patient, Bilbo broke out in a broad smile and leaned forward to capture Dain’s hands. “Thank you, captain!” he said, shaking them eagerly.

“Don’t mention it. He is a distant relative of mine, after all.” Dain said and patted Bilbo’s hand. “Now, is that all?”

“Yes, thank you very much. Can I go right away?” Bilbo said, getting up from his chair. 

“No use in putting it off.” Dain answered. 

Bilbo was almost at the door, when he turned around again. “Oh, and I wondered if I could have my notebook back? It contains all my drawings and notes from this year and it’s rather precious to me.” 

For the first time Bilbo had the feeling that the smile Dain gave him was genuine. “It’s a fine notebook, I took the liberty of looking at your drawings. One of the last ones caught my eye. Some sort of lizard, I’d say?”

“Oh, that was an iguana. Very interesting creatures. And that particular one has probably never been described before. I’d like to publish an article about it, once I get back home.” Bilbo told Dain conversationally. The dwarf nodded as he got up from his chair and walked to one of the chests. 

“I’m not an expert on four legged creatures, I have to admit. But I have a book here somewhere about seabirds, that I found very interesting. It was an elf you wrote that one, but you wrote the foreword.” Dain pulled out a book and held it out to Bilbo, who stepped closer again and peered at the cover. It was indeed a book that he had written the foreword for, because Elrond had asked him to. Bilbo smiled fondly as he took the book from Dain’s hand and leafed through it. “Yes, a very fine book. One of the best, I’d say.”

Dain chuckled. “I read one of yours as well, although I’m sad to say that I don’t own it. Your description of the wildlife of the Erebor coast was quite poetic. I heard you wrote that during your first visit there. I never expected such beautiful prose in a scientific book, but it worked. Oh, and then your last article about moos? A friend recommended I read it. Highly enlightening. I’ve seen so much of the stuff growing in the Iron Hills, but never paid it any mind until I read about it last month.”

Bilbo pretended to be highly pleased by the news that Dain thought his books and articles worth reading. On the inside his thoughts were racing in completely different ways. His last article had been published in a journal 6 month ago. They were now at least 3 and a half month sailing away from Erebor or any other large harbour where publications of this sort could be bought. The fact that Dain had read it meant that he had either been sailing close to the coast during the last four months, or had been in contact with somebody who had been in Erebor recently. 

Pretending to be excited about having discovered a reader, Bilbo smiled eagerly. “How kind of you to say. Not many people share my enthusiasm for nature and its many wonders and I never expected to meet somebody who has read my works so far away from home.” 

Dain smiled kindly again. “I’m interested in many things, Dr. Baggins.”

The interview seemed to have come to a close now, because with a friendly but decisive push Dain led Bilbo to the door. Bilbo knew that trying to stay now would look suspicious, so he thanked the dwarf again and left the cabin. 

As Bilbo was lead down to the hold, he ran the conversation over in his mind again. Something else suddenly struck him. Something that Dain had said about one of his earlier books. He had indeed written his book about Erebor’s coast after his first visit there, but it had not been published till a few years afterwards. Not many people knew that he had collected most of his material and indeed written large parts of it years earlier. Now where had Dain gotten that information from? It had to be someone from court, someone who had seen Bilbo go on his outings and then seen him write his discoveries down. There weren’t many people who knew he had already been working on this particular book back then, because he had been careful about not being seen to collect to much information. He knew about the secretive nature of dwarves and didn’t want to make a bad impression on his very first visit in a kingdom by being nosy. 

Despite not learning much about Dain, except that he seemed to be a bit of a naturalist, Bilbo had made an interesting discovery. Somebody in the inner circles of the court had to be in contact with Dain, giving him information. But who could that be?

Thoughtfully chewing on the inside of his cheek, Bilbo let himself be lead down to Fili. This was proving to be even more complicated than just a simple abduction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some dialouge and ideas for the scene where Bilbo and Thorin meet for the first time are borrowed from the novel ''Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian. He's a genius and you should all read his books!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I appreciate every click, kudos and comment.


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